THE  LIBRARY 
OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


Itabrs  from  Ifte  SCrrc  of  lift. 


"Thy  word  is  a  lamp  onto  my  feet  and  a  light  nnto  my  path."     T*.  cxlx.,  10» 


[eate  from  tjje  8Fm  of  fife. 


A  VERSE  OF  SCRIPTURE 

WITH 

WORDS  OF  COMMENT  OR   ILLUSTRATION, 

FOR 

ag  in  %  fear. 


"  Healing  leaves 
Blown  from  the  tree  of  life." 

VAUOHAW. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
AMERICAN  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  UNION, 

1122  CHESTNUT  STREET. 


No w  York i  Bonton i 

5»»   BKOADWAT.          I     141  WASIIINOTOK  ST. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1859,  by  the 
AMERICAN  SUNDAY-SCHOOL   UNION, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Eastern  District  of 
Pennsylvania. 


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UNION  without  the  sanction  of  the  Committee  of  Publication,  consisting 
of  fourteen  members,  from  tlte  following  denominations  of  Christians, 
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can  be  of  the  same  denomination,  and  no  book  can  be  published  to  which 
any  member  of  the  Committee  shall  object. 


JS  V 


PEEFACE. 


IT  was  a  custom  among  the  Moravians  for 
the  elder  brethren  and  sisters  to  visit  daily 
every  house  in  the  settlement,  saluting  the  in- 
habitants with  a  passage  of  Scripture  called 
"the  daily  word," — a  word  of  warning  or  of 
promise,  of  comfort  or  of  hope.  It  was  the 
watch-word  for  the  day;  and  the  soldiers  of 
Christ  glowed  with  new  ardour  as  it  fell  upon 
their  ears.  The  theme  for  meditation  came 
with  the  morning  light,  and  the  flame  of  de- 
votion was  enkindled  by  the  divine  message. 
The  manna  fell  daily  for  this  church  in  the 
wilderness. 

Subsequently  it  became  their  custom  to  print 
this  daily  word  in  advance  for  the  year.  From 
this  we  have  derived  the  idea  of  our  daily  text- 
books. Elizabeth  Fry,  in  the  intervals  of  her 
public  labours,  compiled  several  of  these,  and 
found  great  pleasure  in  giving  them  to  those 
whom  she  casually  met  in  the  journey  of  life, 
as  tokens  of  her  remembrance. 

The  present  volume,  in  addition  to  the  daily 

1*  5 

622653 


6  PREFACE. 

word  of  divine  truth,  gives  words  of  comment 
from  wise  and  good  men,  who  have  fashioned 
their  lives  by  these  heavenly  teachings.  Our 
faith  is  strengthened  as  the  light  comes  to  us 
from  those  radiant  stars  shining  in  God's  moral 
firmament.  We  hear  their  voices  murmuring 
in  the  dim  corridors  of  the  past  and 

"  Descending  slow,  with  something  heavenly  fraught," 

from  the  serene  heights  of  immortality.  Their 
mighty  faith,  their  keen  apprehension  of  solemn 
realities,  their  high  aims  and  noble  utterances, 
rebuke  our  faltering  steps.  Holy  thoughts 
welling  up  from  fountains  of  religious  feeling 
bathe  our  care-worn  brows  with  their  refreshing 
waters.  The  electric  chain  of  sympathy  and 
feeling  is  struck;  and  we  know  that  we  are 
linked  together  in  the  bonds  of  a  redeemed 
humanity. 

There  are  leaves  in  tropical  climes  so  ample 
that  one  can  sit  under  their  shadow,  protected 
from  the  fierce  beams  of  the  golden  day.  Even 
so  may  we  sit  under  the  shadow  of  these  leaves 
of  the  Tree  of  Life,  sheltered  from  the  broad 
glare  of  this  garish  world, — each  leaf  spread- 
ing and  growing  till  it  becomes  a  "pavilion" 
of  refuge  and  delight. 


from      fee  of  Jife, 


JANUARY. 
1.  ALL  my  springs  are  in  thee. 

Psalm  Ixxxvii.  7. 

Prayer  for  grace  doth,  as  it  were,  set  the  mouth 
of  the  soul  to  the  spring,  draws  from  Jesus  Christ, 
and  is  replenished  out  of  his  fulness,  thirsting  after 
it  and  drawing  from  it  that  way.  LEIGHTON. 

Life,  like  a  fountain  rich  and  free, 
Springs  from  the  presence  of  my  Lord ; 

And  in  thy  light  our  souls  shall  see 
The  glories  promised  in  thy  word. 

WATTS. 


2.  There  is  but  a  step  between  me 
and  death.  xx.  3. 


Death   comes,   not  according  to  the   order  of 
nature,  but  the  decree  of  God.     How  many  in  the 


8  JANUARY. 

flower  of  their  youth,  and  strength  thought  them- 
selves at  as  great  distance  from  death  as  the  east 
is  from  the  west,  when  there  was  not  the  space 
of  an  hour  between  them  and  death,  between  them 
and  hell !  The  lamp  suddenly  expires  by  a  blast 
of  wind,  when  there  is  plenty  of  oil  to  feed  it. 

BATES. 

0  shadow' d  form !     0  hidden  face ! 

Thou  mak'st  no  haste  approaching  me, 
But  day  by  day,  with  steady  pace, 

Nearer  1  draw  to  thee. 


3.  0  my  God,  I  trust  in  thee :  let  me 
not  be  ashamed ;  let  not  mine 
enemies  triumph  over  me. 

Psalm  xxv.  2. 

There  is  no  public  action  which  the  world  is  not 
ready  to  scan ;  there  is  no  action  so  private  which 
the  evil  spirits  are  not  witnesses  of:  I  will  endeavour 
so  to  live  as  knowing  that  I  am  ever  in  the  eyes 
of  mine  enemies.  HALL. 

Though  hosts  encamp  around  me, 

Firm  in  the  fight  I  stand : 
What  terror  can  confound  me 

With  God  at  my  right  hand  ? 

MONTGOMERY. 


JANUARY.  9 

4.  0  ye  of  little  faith.      Matt.  vi.  so. 

The  secret  of  your  weakness  is  your  little  faith 
and  little  prayer.  The  fountain  is  unsealed ;  but 
you  only  sip  a  few  drops.  The  bread  of  life  is 
before  youj  yet  you  only  eat  a  few  crumbs. 'The 
treasury  of  heaven  is  open  j  but  you  only  take  a  few 
pence.  RYLE. 

Impart  the  faith  that  soars  on  high, 

Beyond  this  earthly  strife, 
That  holds  sweet  converse  with  the  sky 

And  lives  Eternal  Life ! 

JANE  TATLOB. 


5.  Lord,  remember  me ! 

Luke  xxiii.  42. 

Lord  Astley,  before  he  charged  at  the  battle 
of  Edgehill,  made  this  short  prayer : — "  0  Lord, 
thou  knowest  how  busy  I  must  be  this  day.  If  I 
forget  thee,  do  not  thou  forget  me." 

And  when  these  failing  lips  grow  dumb, 

And  mind  and  memory  flee, 
When  thou  shalt  in  thy  kingdom  come, 

Jesus,  remember  me ! 

MONTOOMIBY. 


10  JANUARY. 

6.  I  said,  I  will  be  wise  ;  but  it  was 

far  from  me.  That  which  is 
far  off  and  exceeding  deep, 
who  can  find  it  out  ?' 

Eccl  vii.  23,  24. 

All  our  most  laudable  endeavours  after  know- 
ledge now  are  only  the  gathering  up  of  some  scat- 
tered fragments  of  what  was  once  an  entire  fabric, 
and  the  recovery  of  some  precious  jewels  which 
were  lost  out  of  sight  and  sunk  in  the  shipwreck 
of  human  nature.  STILLINQFLEET. 

These  lower  works,  that  swell  thy  praise 

High  as  our  thoughts  can  tower, 
Are  but  a  portion  of  thy  ways,  — 

The  hiding  of  thy  power. 

MONTGOMERY. 

7.  Wherefore  God  also  hath  highly 

exalted  him,  and  given  him  a 
name  which  is  above  every 
name.  P^H.  H.  9. 


This  is  the  name  which  we  should  engrave  on 
our  hearts,  and  write  upon  our  foreheads,  and  pro- 
nounce with  our  most  harmonious  accents,  and  rest 


JANUARY.  11 

our  faith  upon,  and  place  our  hopes  in,  and  love 
with  the  overflowings  of  charity  and  joy  and 
adoration.  JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

Thy  mighty  name  salvation  is, 
And  keeps  my  happy  soul  above : 

Comfort  it  brings,  and  power,  and  peace, 
And  joy,  and  everlasting  love. 

To  me  with  thy  great  name  are  given 

Pardon  and  holiness  and  heaven. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 


8.  And  in  every  work  that  he  began 
in  the  service  of  the  house  of 
God,  and  in  the  law,  and  in 
the  commandments,  to  seek 
his  God,  he  did  it  with  all  his 
heart,  and  prospered. 

2  Chron.  xxxi.  21. 

I  have  a  work  to  do  daily,  with  a  will  to  do  it 
and  a  prayer  upon  it;  and  let  that  work  be  God's. 

ADAM. 

Fill  thy  odorous  lamp  with  deeds  of  light 
And  hope  that  reaps  not  shame. 

MlLTOH. 


12  JANUARY. 

9:  While  I  live  will  I  praise  the 
Lord :  I  will  sing  praises  unto 
my  God  while  I  have  any 

being.  Psalm  cxlvi.  2. 

I  would  not  exchange  the  little,  faint  efforts  I  can 
make  towards  praising  God  for  all  worldly  comforts. 

ADAM. 

Let  thy  grace,  my  soul's  chief  treasure, 
Love's  pure  flame  within  me  raise ; 

And,  since  words  can  never  measure, 
Let  my  life  show  forth  thy  praise. 

KEY. 


10.  For  me  to  live  is  Christ,  to  die 

is  gain.  Philippians  i.  21. 

Happiness  absolutely  consists  in  such  a  state  of 
mind  that  death  shall  be  welcome  and  life  still 
shall  be  sweet ;  that  is,  in  being  equally  prepared  to 
improve  life  or  to  resign  it.  FOSTER. 

He  is  the  happy  man  whose  life  e'en  now 
Shows  somewhat  of  that  happier  life  to  come, 

Content  indeed  to  sojourn  while  he  must 
Below  the  skies,  but  having  there  his  home. 

COWPBR. 


JANUARY.  13 

11.  Who  hath  bewitched  you,  that 
ye  should  not  obey  the  truth  ? 

Galatians  iii.  1. 

How  strange  and  mortifying,  that  progress  in 
personal  religion  is  so  difficult !  that  it  should  not 
b^  the  natural,  earnest,  and  even  impetuous,  tendency 
of  an  immortal  spirit  summoned  to  the  prosecution 
of  immortal  interests !  FOSTER. 

Yet  man,  fool  man !  here  buries  all  bis  thoughts ; 

Inters  celestial  hopes  without  one  sigh  ; 

Prisoner  of  hope,  and,  pent  beneath  the  moon, 

Here  pinions  all  his  wishes ;  wing'd  by  Heaven 

To  fly  at  infinite  and  reach  it  there, 

When  seraphs  gather  immortality 

On  life's  fair  tree,  fast  by  the  throne  of  God. 

YOUNO. 


12.  Strangers  and  pilgrims  on  the 
earth.  Hebrew8  xL  13 

Here  thou  art  but  a  stranger  travelling  to  thy 
country  where  the  glories  of  a  kingdom  are  pre- 
pared for  thee :  it  is  therefore  a  huge  folly  to  be 
much  afflicted  because  thou  hast  a  less  convenient 
inn  to  lodge  in  by  the  way. 

JEREMY  TAYLOR. 
2 

\ 


JANUARY. 

Strangers  and  pilgrims  here  below, 
This  earth,  we  know,  is  not  our  place, 

But  hasten  through  the  vale  of  woe, 
And,  restless  to  behold  thy  face, 

Swift  to  our  heavenly  country  move, 

Our  everlasting  home  above. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 


13.  It  is  good  for  me  that  I  have 

been  afflicted;   that  I  might 
learn  thy  statutes. 

Psalm  cxix.  71. 

There  is  no  season  so  proper  for  holy  counsel  and 
sowing  the  good  seed  as  when  the  heart  is  softened 
by  sorrow  and  mellowed  by  affliction. 

LADY  LETICE  FALKLAND. 

How  wretched  is  the  man  that  never  mourn'd ! 
I  dive  for  precious  pearls  in  sorrow's  stream. 

YOUNG. 

14.  Thou  fool,  this  night  thy  soul 

shall  be  required  of  thee. 

Luke  xii.  20. 

This  sentence  is  pronounced  in  heaven  against 
thousands  that  are  now  alive,  conversant  in  the 
vanities  and  business  of  the  world,  eating  and  drink- 


JANUARY.  15 

ing,  playing  and  trading,  and  all  unconcerned  as  to 
dying,  yet  shall  breathe  their  last  before  to-morrow 
and  their  unwilling  souls  be  rent  from  the  embrace 
of  their  bodies.  BATES. 

Turn,  mortal,  turn :  thy  danger  know : 
j* u  Where'er  thy  foot  can  tread, 

The  earth  rings  hollow  from  below 
And  warns  thee  by  her  dead. 

HEBER. 

15.  There  is  joy  in  the  presence  of 
the  angels  of  God  over  one 
sinner  that  repenteth. 

Luke  xv.  10. 

There  is  no  blessed  soul  goes  to  heaven  but  he 
makes  a  general  joy  in  all  the  mansions  where  the 
saints  do  dwell  and  in  all  the  chapels  where  the 
angels  sing;  and  the  joys  of  religion  are  not  uni- 
vocal,  but  productive  of  rare  and  accidental  and  pre- 
ternatural pleasures ;  for  the  music  of  holy  hymns 
delights  the  ear,  and  refreshes  the  spirit,  and  makes 
the  very  bones  of  the  saint  to  rejoice. 

JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

Come,  in  your  robes  of  light, 

Ye  seraphs,  from  above, 
And  ye,  with  heaven  all  bright, 

Soft  Cherubim  of  love. 


16  JANUARY. 

Praise  Him  whose  mighty  love 

Shared  even  death  for  men, 
And  the  bright  gates  above 

Threw  wide  for  us  again! 

16.  And  it  came  to  pass  that  the 
beggar  died,  and  was  carried 
by  the  angels  into  Abraham's 
bosom.  The  rich  man  also 
died,  and  was  buried. 

Luke  xvi.  22. 

While  pride  gathers  in  the  heart,  the  angel  is 
ever  writing  in  the  book,  and  wrath  is  ever  mantling 
in  the  cup.  Complain  not  in  the  season  of  woe  that 
you  are  parched  with  thirst;  ask  not  for  water  as 
Dives  asked :  you  have  a  warning  which  he  never 
had.  There  stand  the  ever-memorable  words  of  the 
text,  which  break  down  the  statcliness  of  man  and 
dissipate  the  pageantry  of  the  earth:  thus  it  is 
that  the  few  words  of  a  God  can  make  the  purple 
of  the  world  appear  less  beautiful  than  the  mean 
garments  of  a  beggar. 

My  days  are  shorter  than  a  span ; 

A  little  point  my  life  appears  : 
How  frail  at  best  is  dying  man ! 

How  vain  are  all  his  hopes  and  fears ! 

STEEL*. 


JANUARY.  17 

17.  The  father  to  the  children  shall 
make  known  thy  truth. 

Isaiah  xxxviii.  19. 

Holy  parents  never  eat  their  meal  of  blessing 
alone,  but  they  make  the  room  shine  like  the  fire  of 
a  holy  sacrifice ;  and  a  father's  or  a  mother's  piety 
makes  all  the  house  festival  and  full  of  joy  from 
generation  to  generation.  JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

Thus  chasten'd,  cleansed,  entirely  thine, 

A  flock  by  Jesus  led, 
The  sun  of  holiness  shall  shine 

In  glory  on  our  head. 

HENKY  KIRKK  WHITK. 


18.  Lighten  mine  eyes,  lest  I  sleep 
the  sleep  of  death. 

Psalm  xiii.  3. 

Like  the  bird  of  which  travellers  tell,  that  fans  its 
victims  with  its  pinions  until  their  sleep  be  sound, 
while  it  draws  the  life-blood  from  their  body,  so 
does  the  world  lull  into  slumber  the  poor  deceived 
soul,  and  keep  it  thus  in  an  unbroken  calm  even  to 
the  solemn  moment  when  it  awakes  in  eternity. 

HENRY  BLUNT. 
B  2* 


18  JANUARY. 

Teach  me  thy  love  to  know, — 

That  this  hew  light  which  now  I  see 

May  both  the  work  and  workman  show : 
Then  by  a  sunbeam  I  will  climb  to  thee. 

GEORGE  HERBERT. 


19.  A  good  man  shall  be  satisfied 
from  himself.         Prov.  *iv.  14. 


And  conscience  undoubtedly  is  the  great  reposi- 
tory and  magazine  of  all  those  pleasures  that  can 
afford  any  solid  refreshment  to  the  soul.  For  when 
this  is  calm  and  serene  and  absolving,  then  properly 
a  man  enjoys  all  things  and  —  what  is  more  —  himself. 
But  it  is  only  a  pious  life  led  exactly  by  the  rules 
of  a  severe  religion  that  can  authorize  a  man's  con- 
science to  speak  comfortably  to  him.  It  is  this 
that  must  word  the  sentence  before  thjs  conscience 
can  pronounce  it;  and  then  it  will  do  it  with  majesty 
and  authority  :  it  will  not  whisper,  but  proclaim,  a 
jubilee  to  the  mind  ;  it  will  not  drop,  but  pour  in, 
oil  upon  the  wounded  heart.  SOUTH. 

Holiness  on  the  head  ; 
Light  and  perfections  on  the  breast  ; 

Harmonious  bells  below,  raising  the  dead, 
To  lead  them  unto  life  and  rest;  — 

Thus  are  true  Aarons  drest. 

HERBERT. 


JANUARY.  19 

20.  Are  there  not  twelve  hours  in 

the  day?  If  any  man  walk  in 
the  day,  he  stumbleth  not, 
because  he  seeth  the  light  of 

this  World.  John  xi.  9. 

Every  hour  comes  to  us  charged  with  duty,  and 
the  moment  it  is  past  returns  to  heaven  to  register 
itself  now  spent.  My  hours  how  trifled,  sauntered, 
dozed,  sensualized,  sinned,  away !  ADAM. 

Are  there  not  in  the  labourer's  day 
Twelve  hours,  in  which  he  safely  may 

His  calling's  work  pursue  ? 
Though  sin  and  Satan  still  are  near, 
Nor  sin  nor  Satan  can  I  fear 

With  Jesus  in  my  view. 

JOHN  WESLEY. 

21.  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  la- 

bour and  are  heavy  laden,  and 
I  will  give  you  rest. 

Matt.  xi.  28. 

If  it  were  given  us  at  this  hour  to  behold  in 
vision  the  multitudes  in  every  age  who  have  drank 
of  the  well  of  blessings  which  is  continually 


20  JANUARY. 


springing  from  this  inestimable  declaration, — if  our 
Bibles  could  retain  the  pictured  shadows  of  those 
hosts  of  sad  and  sorrowing  faces  that  in  the  long 
succession  of  centuries  and  the  wide  variety  of 
Christianized  countries  have  bowed  over  the  page 
that  speaks  these  words  of  refreshment,  and  risen 
renewed  in  hope  and  happiness, — truly  we  might 
have  wherewith  to  silence  the  scoffer,  a  cloud  of 
witnesses  to  testify  that  the  eye  of  the  Lord  is  upon 
them, — upon  them  that  hope  in  his  mercy. 

ARCHER  BUTLER. 

With  tearful  eyes  I  look  around  ; 

Life  seems  a  dark  and  stormy  sea  : 
Yet  midst  the  gloom  I  hear  a  sound, 

A  heavenly  whisper,  "  Come  to  me." 

It  tells  me  of  a  place  of  rest ; 

It  tells  me  where  my  soul  may  flee  ; 
Ah!  to  the  weary,  faint,  oppress'd, 

How  sweet  the  bidding,  "  Gome  to  me"  ! 

ANON. 


22.  We  are  confident,  I  say,  and 
willing  rather  to  be  absent 
from  the  body  and  to  be  pre- 
sent with  the  Lord. 

2  Cor.  v.  8. 


JANUARY.  21 

I  can  now  contemplate  clearly  the  grand  scene 
to  which  I  am  going :  it  appears  to  my  mind  very 
magnificent  and  very  awful :  there  is  no  cloud  in 
the  prospect.  MACLAINE. 

There  are  crowns  and  thrones  of  glory ; 

There  the  living  waters  glide ; 
There  the  just  in  shining  raiment 

Standing  by  Immanuel's  side. 

EDHESTON. 


23.  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass 
away,  but  my  words  shall  not 

away.  Luke  xxi.  33. 


Words  convey  the  mental  treasures  of  one  period 
to  the  generations  that  follow  ;  and,  laden  with  this 
their  precious  freight,  they  sail  safely  across  gulfs 
of  time  in  which  empires  have  suffered  shipwreck 
and  the  languages  of  common  life  have  sunk  into 
oblivion. 

Yet  still  the  Lord,  the  Saviour,  reigns, 

When  nature  is  destroy'd 
And  no  created  thing  remains 

Throughout  the  flaming  void. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 


22  JANUARY. 

24:.  Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect 
peace  whose  mind  is  stayed  on 

Isaiah  xxvi.  3. 


Thankful  for  Christ,  thankful  for  every  thing,  and 
always  in  a  serene,  quiet  state  of  mind.      ADAM. 

Oh,  why  should  I  have  peace  ? 

Why,  but  for  that  unchanged,  undying  love 
"Which  would  not,  could  not  cease 

Until  it  made  me  heir  of  joys  above? 

ANON. 


25.  For  he  looked  for  a  city  which 
hath  foundations,  whose  build- 
er and  maker  is  God. 

Heb.  xi.  10. 

Since  we  stay  not  here,  being  people  but  of  a 
day's  abode,  and  our  age  like  that  of  a  fly  and  con- 
temporary with  a  gourd,  we  must  look  somewhere 
else  for  an  abiding  city,  a  place  in  another  country 
to  fix  our  house  in,  whose  walls  and  foundation  is 
Grod,  where  we  must  find  rest,  or  else  be  restless  for- 
ever. JEREMY  TAYLOR. 


JANUARY.  23 

We  see  our  distant  home, 

Though  clouds  rise  oft  between : 

Faith  views  the  radiant  dome, 
And  a  lustre  flashes  keen 
From  the  new  Jerusalem. 


26.  Thou  art  my  hiding-place ;  thou 
shalt  preserve  me  from  trou- 
ble; thou  shalt  compass  me 
about  with  songs  of  deliver- 
ance. Psalm  xxxii.  7. 

Unless  you  can  distrust  all  the  influences  of  his- 
tory and  all  the  direct  testimony  of  express  lan- 
guage, there  is  a  happiness  attainable  by  the  service 
of  Christ  which  it  would  be  absolute  insanity  to 
ascribe  to  any  earthly  pursuit.  Are  all  the  records 
of  devotional  literature  a  lie,  or  is  the  promise  of  the 
Lord  incapable  of  fulfilment  ?  ARCHER  BUTLER. 

Thou  hidden  Source  of  calm  repose, 

Thou  all-sufficient  Love  divine, 
My  help  and  refuge  from  my  foes, 

Secure  I  am  while  thou  art  mine ; 
And  lo  !  from  sin  and  grief  and  shame 
I  hide  me,  Jesus,  in  thy  name. 

CHARLES  WESLET. 


24  JANUARY. 


27.  If  this  counsel  or  this  work  be 
of  men,  it  will  come  to  nought : 
but  if  it  be  of  God,  ye  cannot 
overthrow  it.  Acts  v.  38, 39. 

The  gospel  is  a  powerful  engine  for  raising  the 
fallen  nature  of  man ;  but  then  God  must  have  the 
working  of  it.  ADAM. 

Except  the  Lord  conduct  the  plan, 
The  best-concerted  schemes  are  vain 

And  never  can  succeed ; 
We  spend  our  wretched  strength  for  nought : 
But  if  our  works  in  thee  be  wrought, 

They  shall  be  blest  indeed. 

ANON, 


28.  God  is  love ;  and  he  that  dwell- 
eth  in  love  dwelleth  in  God, 
and  God  in  him.  1  John  iv.  16. 

The  Christian  draws  nigh  to  God  as  a  reconciled 
father  in  the  faith  of  Christ, — presses  on  to  a  com- 
plete victory  over  sin,  and  the  glory  of  the  inward 
man  in  a  pure  and  perfect  heart.  God  to-day, — and 
what  to-morrow  ?  God.  ADAM. 


JANUARY.  25 


God  only  knows  the  lore  of  God: 
Oh  that  it  now  were  shed  abroad 

In  this  poor,  stony  heart ! 
For  love  I  sigh ;  for  love  I  pine  j 
This  only  portion,  Lord,  be  mine, 

Be  mine  this  better  part. 


29.  A  good  name  is  better  than  pre- 
cious ointment,  and  the  day 
of  death  than  the  day  of  one's 
birth.  Ecd.  vii.  i. 

The  acts  of  a  holy  religion  and  a  peaceable  con- 
science make  us  live  even  beyond  our  funerals, 
embalmed  in  the  spices  and  odours  of  a  good  name, 
and  entombed  in  the  grave  of  the  holy  Jesus,  where 
we  shall  be  dressed  for  a  blessed  resurrection  to  the 
state  of  angels  and  beatified  spirits. 

JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

When  Faith  and  Love,  which  parted  from  thee  never, 
Had  ripen'd  thy  just  soul  to  dwell  with  God, 
Meekly  thou  didst  resign  this  earthly  load 

Of  death  call'd  life,  which  us  from  life  doth  sever. 

Thy  works  and  alms,  and  all  thy  good  endeavour, 
Stay'd  not  behind,  nor  in  the  grave  were  trod, 
But,  as  Faith  pointed  with  her  golden  rod, 

Follow'd  thee  op  to  joy  and  bliss  forever. 

3  MILTOV. 


26  JANUARY. 

30.  I  count  all  things  but  loss  for 
the  excellency  of  the  know- 
ledge of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord. 

Phil.  iii.  8. 

The  very  singleness  of  the  object  of  his  hope  has 
a  power  to  elevate  the  Christian  above  the  petty 
concerns  of  daily  life.  ARCHER  BUTLER. 

Then  let  us  sit  beneath  the  cross 
And  gladly  catch  the  healing  stream, 

All  things  for  him  account  but  loss 
And  give  up  all  our  hearts  to  him, — 

Of  nothing  think  or  speak  beside  : 

My  Lord,  my  Love,  is  crucified. 

CHAELES  WESLEY. 


31.  The  will  of  the  Lord  be  done. 

Acts  xxi.  14. 

The  will  of  G-od  is  my  pole-star;  and,  with  my  eye 
constantly  upon  it,  I  shall  be  carried  safely  through 
fill  -*~nns  and  tempests.  ADAM. 

My  God,  my  Father,  while  I  stray 
Far  from  my  home  on  life's  rough  way, 
Oh,  teach  me  from  my  heart  to  say, 
"  Thy  will,  my  God,  be  done !" 


FEBRUARY. 


1.  AND  herein  do  I  exercise  myself 
to  have  a  conscience  void  of 
offence  toward  God  and  toward 
men.  Acts  xxiv.  16. 

A  tender  conscience  is  an  inestimable  blessing, 
that  is  not  only  quick  to  discern  what  is  evil,  but 
instantly  to  shun  it,  as  the  eyelid  closes  itself  against 
a  mote.  THOMAS  ADAM. 

Quick  as  the  apple  of  an  eye, 
0  God,  my  conscience  make : 

Awake  my  soul  when  sin  is  nigh, 
And  keep  it  still  awake. 


2.  He,  being  dead,  yet  speaketh. 

Heb.  ii.  4. 

I  am  convinced  how  great  a  deed  he  does  who 
makes  one  pious  thought  alive  and  active  in  the 
human  soul ;  since  I  know  how  a  single  passage  in 
a  beautiful  book  or  in  a  religious  conversation  has 


28  FEBRUARY. 


often  had  an  influence  on  me  for  many  days  together; 
and  I  shall  to  all  eternity  thank  him  to  whom  I  am 
indebted  for  the  smallest  benefit  of  this  sort. 

From  the  eternal  shadow  rounding 
All  our  sun  and  starlight  here, 

Voices  of  our  lost  ones  sounding 

Bid  us  be  of  heart  and  cheer, — 
Though  the  silence,  down  the  spaces,  falling  on  the 

inward  ear. 


3.  I  will  bring  my  people   again 
from  the  depths  of  the  sea. 

Psalm  Ixviii.  22. 

The  victories  over  Israel's  enemies,  with  which 
God  blessed  David's  forces,  are  but  types  of  Christ's 
victory  over  death  and  the  grave,  for  himself  and 
for  all  believers,  and  of  the  destruction  of  his  and 
the  church's  enemies.  M.  HENRY. 

Though  nature's  strength  decay, 

And  earth  and  hell  withstand, 
To  Canaan's  bounds  I  urge  my  way, 

At  his  command : 
The  watery  deep  I  pass, 

With  Jesus  in  my  view, 
And  through  the  howling  wilderness 

My  way  pursue. 


FEBRUARY.  29 


The  goodly  land  I  see, 

With  peace  and  plenty  blest ; 
A  land  of  sacred  liberty 

And  endless  rest.  OLIVEES. 


4.  Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace 
I  give  unto  you:  not  as  the 
world  giveth,  give  I  unto  you. 

John  xiv.  27. 

When  we  once  come  to  know  and  believe  in  good 
earnest  that  there  is  a  peace  with  God  to  be  had, 
and  that  it  is  the  very  thing  we  want,  it  will  make 
us  cool  in  all  other  pursuits.  THOMAS  ADAM. 

Why,  then,  am  I,  my  God, 

Permitted  thus  the  paths  of  peace  to  tread, — 
Peace  purchased  by  the  blood 

Of  Him  who  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head  ? 


5.  "We  have  an  advocate  with  the 
Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  right- 
eous. 1  John  ii.  1.  , 

I  put  my  prayers  into  Christ's  hands ;  and  what 
may  I  not  expect  from  them,  when  I  have  such  an 
advocate  ?  ADAM. 

3* 


30  FEBRUARY. 


My  soul,  with  cheerful  eye, 

See  where  thy  Saviour  stands, — 

The  glorious  Advocate  on  high, — 
With  incense  in  his  hands. 

STEELE. 


6.  "Who  comforteth  us  in  all  our 
tribulation,  that  we  may  be 
able  to  comfort  them  which 
are  in  any  trouble  by  the  com- 
fort wherewith  we  ourselves 
are  comforted  of  God. 

2  Cor.  i.  4. 

And  what  greater  measure  can  we  have  than 
that  we  should  bring  joy  to  our  brother,  who,  with 
his  dreary  eyes,  looks  to  heaven  and  round  about 
and  cannot  find  so  much  rest  as  to  lay  his  eyelids 
close  together, — than  that  thy  tongue  should  be 
tuned  with  heavenly  accents,  and  make  the  weary 
soul  to  listen  for  light  and  ease,  and  when  he  per- 
ceives that  there  is  such  a  thing  in  the  world,  and 
in  the  order  of  things,  as  comfort  and  joy,  to  begin 
to  break  out  from  the  prison  of  his  sorrows  and  by 
little  and  little  melt  into  showers  and  refreshment  ? 
This  is  glory  to  thy  voice  and  employment  fit  for 
the  brightest  angel.  JEREMY  TAYLOR. 


FEBRUARY.  31 


Speak  low  to  me,  my  Saviour, — low  and  sweet 
From  out  the  hallelujahs,  sweet  and  low ; 
Lest  I  should  fear  and  fall,  and  miss  thee  so 

Who  art  not  miss'd  by  any  that  entreat. 

MRS.  BROWNING. 

7.  For  the  living  know  that  they 

shall  die ;  but  the  dead  know 
not  any  thing,  neither  have 
they  any  more  a  reward ;  for 
the  memory  of  them  is  for- 
gotten. Eccles.  ix.  5. 

This  one  omnipotent  mighty  idea,  which  no 
sophistry  can  obscure  and  no  audacity  disarm,  is  all 
abroad  among  the  habitations  of  men,  denouncing 
the  world  as  a  vain  illusion  and  pleading  for  the 
rights  and  interests  of  eternity.  OLIN. 

Beneath  our  feet  and  o'er  our  head 

Is  equal  warning  given : 
Beneath  us  lie  the  countless  dead, 

Above  us  is  the  heaven. 

HEBER. 

8.  I  will  render  praises  unto  thee, 

for  thou  hast  delivered  my 
soul  from  death. 

Psalm  Ivi.  12,  13. 


FEBRUARY. 


What  makes  a  happy  life?  Knowing  that  we 
can  smile  on  death.  ADAM. 

No  terror  has  death  or  the  grave 
To  those  who  believe  in  the  Lord, — 

Who  know  the  Redeemer  can  save, 
And  lean  on  the  faith  of  his  word. 

GEORGE  P.  MOERIS. 

9.  He  hath  put  a  new  song  in  my 

mouth,  even  praise  unto  our 

God.  Psalm  xl.  3. 

Yes,  you  must  accustom  yourselves  to  that  song: 
you  must  mould  and  warble  it  here  on  earth,  that 
you  may  be  perfect  in  it  when  you  come  to  join 
with  saints  and  angels  in  their  eternal  hallelujahs. 

HOPKINS. 

My  Joy,  my  Life,  my  Crown ! 
My  heart  was  meaning  all  the  day, 

Somewhat  it  fain  would  say : 
And  still  it  runneth,  singing  up  and  down 
These  few  sweet  words: — my  Joy,  my  Life,  my  Crown ! 

HERBERT. 

10.  The  just  man  walketh  in  his  in- 

tegrity :  his  children  are  bless- 
ed after  him.  P™.  *x.  7. 


FEBRUARY.  83 


Joy,  peace,  courage  and  divine  charity  have 
power  to  propagate  themselves.  They  act  upon  the 
young  more  especially  by  sympathy  and  contagion. 
They  diffuse  themselves  spontaneously  through  the 
family  circle,  transforming  and  assimilating  gentle 
natures  and  tender  hearts  by  the  divine  grace  of 
which  they  are  redolent.  OLIN. 

The  power  to  bless  my  house 

Belongs  to  God  alone, 
Yet,  rendering  him  my  constant  vows, 

He  sends  his  blessings  down. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 


11.  If  we  believe  that  Jesus  died 
and  rose  again,  even  so  them 
also  which  sleep  in  Jesus  will 
God  bring  with  him. 

1  Thess.  iv.  14. 

These  that  were,  in  their  lower  estate  here, 
temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  shall  be  filled  with  that 
fulness  of  joy  that  shall  run  over  from  the  soul 
unto  them :  they  shall  be  conformed  to  the  happy 
and  glorious  souls  to  which  they  shall  be  united, 
yea,  to  the  glorious  body  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

LEIGHTON. 


34  FEBRUARY. 


'Tis  sweet,  as  year  by  year  we  lose 
Friends  out  of  sight,  in  faith  to  muse 
How  grows  in  Paradise  our  store. 

KKBLK. 


12.  The  light  of  the  body  is  the 
eye :  if  therefore  thine  eye  be 
single,  thy  whole  body  shall 
be  full  of  light.  Matt.  vi.  22. 

Now  for  a  single  eye  and  a  pure  heart !  Now 
there  seems  to  be  an  opening  to  the  happy  time  of 
forsaking  all !  It  is  only  a  glimpse ;  but,  if  I  keep 
my  attention  fixed  upon  it,  it  will  bring  me  full  into 
the  light.  ADAM. 

Jesus,  my  single  eye 

Be  fix'd  on  thee  alone, 
Thy  name  be  praised  on  earth,  on  high, 

Thy  will  by  all  be  done ! 


13.  For  our  conversation  is  in  hea- 
ven ;  from  whence  also  we 
look  for  the  Saviour,  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  Phil  iii.  20. 


FEBRUARY.  35 


Faith  converses  with  the  angels  and  antedates- the 
hymns  of  glory:  every  man  that  hath  this  grace  is 
as  certain  that  there  are  glories  for  him,  if  he  per- 
severes in  duty,  as  if  he  had  heard  and  sung  the 
thanksgiving-song  for  the  blessed  sentence  of  dooms- 
day. JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

Faith  makes  me  any  thing  or  all 

That  I  believe  is  in  the  sacred  story ; 

And  when  sin  placeth  me  in  Adam's  fall, 
Faith  sets  me  higher  in  his  glory. 

HERBERT. 

14.  Here   have  we   no  continuing 
city ;  but  we  seek  one  to  come. 

Heb.  xiii.  14. 

We  are  pilgrims  to  a  dwelling-place  of  blessed- 
ness; and  the  light  that  streams  through  its  open 
portals  ought  to  suffuse  us  as  we  approach  them. 
An  anticipated  beatitude,  a  sanctity  that  even  now 
breathes  of  Paradise,  a  grace  which  is  already  tinged 
with  the  richer  hues  of  glory, — these  should  mark 
the  Christian  disciple,  and  these  as  he  advances  in 
years  should  brighten  and  deepen  upon  and  around 
him,  until  the  distinction  of  earth  and  heaven  is 
almost  lost,  and  the  spirit,  in  its  placid  and  unearthly 
repose,  is  gone  as  it  were  before  the  body  and  at 
/est  already  with  its  God.  ARCHER  BUTLER. 


36  FEBRUARY. 


We  are  on  our  journey  home, 
Where  Christ  our  Lord  is  gone ; 

We  will  meet  around  his  throne 
When  he  makes  his  people  one 
In  the  new  Jerusalem. 


15.  For  it  is  not  a  vain  thing  for 

you ;  because  it  is  your  life. 

Deut.  xxxii.  47. 

Let  this  be  ever  uppermost  in  my  thoughts  and 
the  great  rule  of  my  conversing  with  all, — that  we  are 
immortal  beings,  in  the  first  stage  of  our  existence, 
full  of  mistakes,  or  unconcerned  about  the  matter 
and  yet  dreadfully  concerned  in  the  issue. 

ADAM. 

Heaven  calls ;  and  can  I  yet  delay  ? 
Can  aught  on  earth  engage  my  stay  ? 

Ah,  wretched,  lingering  heart ! 
Come,  Lord,  with  strength  and  life  and  light, 
Assist  and  guide  my  upward  flight 

And  bid  the  world  depart. 

MRS.  STEELE. 

16.  Looking  for  that  blessed  hope 

and  the  glorious  appearing  of 
the  great  God  and  our  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ.  Titus  a.  13. 


FEBRUARY.  37 


He  who  seldom  thinks  of  heaven  is  not  likely  to 
get  thither, — as  the  only  way  to  hit  the  mark  is  to 
keep  the  eye  fixed  upon  it.  HORNE. 

Rise,  happy  morn !  rise,  holy  morn ! 

Draw  forth  the  cheerful  day  from  night ; 

0  Father,  touch  the  east,  and  light 
The  light  that  shone  when  Hope  was  born  I 

TENNYSON. 

1 7.  Great  peace  have  they  which  love 

thy  law;    and  nothing  shall 
offend  them.       Psalm  cxix.  165, 

Were  there  nothing  else  to  commend  religion  to 
the  minds  of  men  besides  that  tranquillity  and  calm- 
ness of  spirit,  that  serene  and  peaceable  temper, 
which  follow  a  good  conscience  wherever  it  dwells, 
it  were  enough  to  make  men  welcome  that  guest 
which  brings  such  good  entertainment  with  it.  fc 

STILLINaFLEET. 

Lord,  how  secure  and  blest  are  they 
Who  feel  the  joys  of  pardon'd  sin ! 

Should  storms  of  wrath  shake  earth  and  sea, 
Their  minds  have  heaven  and  peace  within. 

WATTS. 

18.  My  days  are  like  a  shadow  that 

declineth .  Psalm  ciL  11. 

4 


38  FEBRUARY. 


I  beseech  thee,  ponder  what  is  life  and  what  is 
death.  Life  is  the  passing  of  a  shadow,  short, 
troublesome  and  dangerous, — a  place  which  God  hath 
given  us  in  time  for  the  desiring  of  eternity. 

JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

Such  are  thy  days, — so  shall  they  pass  away, — 
As  flowers  that  bloom  at  morn,  at  eve  decay ; 
But  then  there  comes  a  life  that  knows  no  end. 
FRANCIS  S.  KEY. 


19.  Whosoever  liveth  and  belie veth 
in  me  shall  never  die. 

John  xi.  26. 

We  should  conceive  of  time  and  eternity  as  dif- 
ferent periods  of  the  same  state  or  different  degrees 
qf  the  same  kind  of  life,  requiring  the  same  dispo- 
sition, but  always  improving,  and  not  as  separated 
by  a  great  gulf  and  quite  different  from  each 
other  in  their  interests,  pleasures,  and  employments. 
This  would  be  running  time  into  eternity  and  bring- 
ing eternity  down  to  time;  we  should  then  think 
and  act  like  eternal  beings  and  live  here  as  we  are 
to  do  in  heaven.  Let  the  whole  world,  therefore,  be 
divided  into  two  great  sects, — viz. :  Timists  and 
Eternalists.  ADAM. 


FEBRUARY.  39 


That  state 

Of  pure,  imperishable  blessedness 
Which  reason  promises  and  Holy  Writ 
Insures  to  all  believers. 

WORDSWOBTH. 


20.  He  forgetteth  not  the  cry  of  the 

humble.  Psalm  ix.  12. 

No  true  prayer  is  lost,  though  we  may  have  for- 
gotten it.  ADAM. 

Blest  are  the  humble  souls  that  see 
Their  emptiness  and  poverty : 
Treasures  of  grace  to  them  are  given,         • 
And  crowns  of  joy  laid  up  in  heaven. 

WATTS. 


21.  Strengthen  ye  the  weak  hands, 
and  confirm  the  feeble  knees. 
Say  to  them  that  are  of  a 
fearful  heart,  Be  strong,  fear 

not.  Isaiah  xxxv.  3,  4. 

It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  see  a  man  despairing. 
Therefore  in  proportion  to  this  I  may  tell  the  excel- 
lency of  the  employment  and  the  duty  of  that  charity 
which  bears  the  dying  and  languishing  soul  from 


40  FEBRUARY. 

the  fringes  of  hell  to  the  seat  of  the  brightest  stars, 
where  God's  face  shines  and  reflects  comforts  for 
ever  and  ever.  JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

Thou  seest  our  weakness,  Lord ; 

Our  hearts  are  known  to  thee : 
Oh,  lift  thou  up  the  sinking  head ; 

Confirm  the  feeble  knee. 

22.  The  law  of  his  God  is  in  his 
heart ;  none  of  his  steps  shall 

slide.  Psalm  xxxvii.  31. 

A  surrender  of  the  life  to  the  guidance  of  duty 
brings  into  the  mind  a  power  far  more  valuable  than 
would  be  the  acquisition  of  new  faculties :  it 
quadruples  the  efficiency  of  the  old.  It  simplifies 
all  the  movements  of  life.  It  cuts  short  a  thousand 
struggles  with  temptation  and  passion.  It  is  a 
thread  of  gold  in  the  hands  of  inexperienced  youth 
and  care-worn  manhood,  to  conduct  the  willing  and 
obedient  through  the  dark,  pathless  labyrinth  of  this 
world. 

The  upright  shall  possess  the  land ; 

His  portion  shall  for  ages  stand ; 
His  mouth  with  wisdom  is  supplied ; 

His  tongue  by  rules  of  judgment  moves ; 

His  heart  the  law  of  God  approves : 
Therefore  his  footsteps  never  slide. 


FEBRUARY.  41 


23.  He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son, 

but  delivered  him  up  for  us 
all,  how  shall  he  not  with  him 
also  freely  give  us  all  things? 

Rom.  viii.  32. 

• 

He  who  has  already  done  so  much  for  me  will 
leave  nothing  undone.  ADAM. 

Fear  not  that  he  will  e'er  forsake 

Or  leave  his  work  undone : 
He's  faithful  to  his  promises 

And  faithful  to  his  Son. 

BBDDOMK. 

24.  I  will  strengthen  them  in  the 

Lord ;  and  they  shall  walk  up 
and  down  in  his  name,  saith 
the  Lord.  Zech.  x.  12. 

The  choicest  spirits  of  our  race — whether  in  the 
public  or  retired  walks  of  life,  whether  standing 
forth  before  the  world  and  battling  with  its  vices 
and  errors,  or  shedding  noiselessly  a  hallowed  in- 
fluence in  the  domestic  circle — have  been  men  who 
looked  up  to  God  for  the  high  life  of  the  soul  and 
for  success  to  their  benignant  labours.  PEARSON. 
4* 


42  FEBRUARY. 


Forth  in  thy  name,  0  Lord,  I  go 
My  daily  labours  to  pursue, — 

Thee,  only  thee,  resolved  to  know 
In  all  I  think,  or  speak,  or  do. 

25.  Light  is  sown  for  the  righteous, 

and  gladness  for  the  uprignt 
in  heart.  Psalm  xcvii-  n- 

Though  they  often  appear  clods  of  earth,  ploughed 
up,  harrowed  and  broken  with  affliction,  yet  is  there 
that  blessed  seed  cast  into  them  which  will  certainly 
sprout  up  to  immortality  and  eternal  life,  as  all  the 
beauties  of  a  flower  lie  couched  in  a  small,  unsightly 
seed.  HOPKINS. 

Palms  of  glory,  raiment  bright, 
Crowns  that  never  fade  away, 

Gird  and  deck  the  saints  in  light, — 
Priests  and  kings  and  conquerors  they. 

MONTGOMERY. 

26.  What !  could  ye  not  watch  with 

me  one  hour  ?       Matt.  xxvi.  40. 

Two  things  are  matter  of  daily  astonishment  to 
me, — the  readiness  of  Christ  to  come  from  heaven 
to  earth  for  me,  and  my  backwardness  to  rise  from 
earth  to  heaven  with  him.  PEABCE. 


FEBRUARY.  43 


Go  watch  and  pray :  thou  canst  not  tell 
How  near  thine  hour  may  be ; 

Thou  canst  not  know  how  soon  the  bell 
May  toll  its  notes  for  thee. 

Death's  countless  snares  beset  thy  way : 

Frail  child  of  dust !  go  watch  and  pray. 


27.  In  whom,  though  now  ye  see 

him  not,  yet  believing  ye  re- 
joice with  joy  unspeakable 
and  full  of  glory.  1  Peter  \.  8. 

Those  that  are  diligent  in  working  for  salvation 
many  times  have  high  spring-tides  of  joy, — joy  that 
is  unspeakable  and  glorious,  that  rusheth  in  upon 
the  soul  and  ravisheth  it  with  a  sweet  and  potent 
delight,  while  it  is  in  ways  of  obedience. 

HOPKINS. 

Oh,  'tis  delight  without  alloy, 

Jesus,  to  hear  thy  name ! 
My  spirit  leaps  with  inward  joy : 

I  feel  the  sacred  flame. 

WATTS. 

28.  Go  out  into  the  highways  and 

hedges.  Luke  xiv.  23. 


FEBRUARY. 


"  Pure-  religion  and  undefined,"  overleaping  the 
narrow  boundaries  of  circle  and  sect,  goes  forth  in 
quest  of  the  objects  of  charity  in  the  highways  and 
hedges.  It  looks  after  the  greatest  sufferers.  It 
seeks  the  lost  sheep  in  the  wilderness  far  away.  No 
pass-word  is  demanded  at  the  door  of  its  heart. 

A  poor  man  served  by  thee  shall  make  thee  rich  ; 
An  old  man  help'd  by  thee  shall  make  thee  strong : 
Thou  shalt  be  served  thyself  by  every  sense 
Of  service  which  thou  renderest. 

MRS.  BEOWNING. 

Leap-Year. — 29.  As  he  thinketh  in 
his  heart,  so  is  he. 

Prov.  xxiii.  7. 

Our  condition  in  the  scale  both  of  moral  and  in- 
tellectual being  is  in  a  great  measure  determined 
by  the  control  which  we  have  acquired  over  the 
succession  of  our  thoughts,  and  by  the  subjects  on 
which  they  are  habitually  exercised. 

ABERCROMBIE. 

This  warfare  is  within.     There,  unfatigued, 
This  fervent  spirit  labours.     There  he  fights 
And  there  obtains  fresh  triumphs  o'er  himself, 
And  never-withering  wreaths,  compared  with  which 
The  laurels  that  a  Csesar  reaps  are  weeds. 

COWPEB. 


MARCH. 

1.  I  AM  doing  a  great  work,  so  that 

I  cannot   come   down:    why 

should  the  work  cease  whilst 

'  I  leave  it  and  come  down  to 

YOU  ?  Nehemiah  vi.  3. 

No !  stand  off,  for  I  am  working  for  eternity, — an 
eternity  that  is  but  a  few  days  hence, — a  boundless, 
a  bottomless,  an  endless  eternity,  into  which  I  know 
not  how  soon  I  may  enter  ;  and  woe  to  me,  yea,  a 
thousand  woes  to  me,  that  ever  I  was  born,  if  my 
great  work  be  not  done  before  the  days  of  eternity 
come  upon  me !  HOPKINS. 

As  by  the  light  of  opening  day 

The  stars  are  all  conceal' d, 
So  earthly  pleasures  fade  away 

When  Jesus  is  reveal'd ; 
Creatures  no  more  divide  my  choice, 

I  bid  them  all  depart, 
His  name,  his  love,  his  gracious  voice, 

Have  fix'd  my  roving  heart.  NEWTON. 

45 


4b  MARCH. 

2.  The  Lord  thy  God  in  the  midst 
of  thee  is  mighty :  he  will  save, 
he  will  rejoice  over  thee  with 
joy ;  he  will  rest  in  his  love, 
he  will  joy  over  thee  with 
singing.  Zeph.  iii.  17. 

If,  in  the  happy  phrase  of  Butler,  our  post- 
humous life,  instead  of  being  altogether  a  beginning 
anew,  be  rather  a  going  on,  what  scenes  of  loveli- 
ness and  irradiations  of  faith  may  unveil  and  beam 
upon  the  soul  when  the  Divine  Giver  tenderly 
takes  it  back,  and  lays  his  hand  on  that  his  own 
instrument  of  music,  and  stills  the  jar  and  the  dis- 
cord of  earth,  and  brings  every  thought  and  feeling 
and  desire  into  tune,  and  draws  out  all  the  powers, 
and  opens  all  the  stops,  and  wakes  the  harmonies  so 
long  sleeping !  ROBKRT  WILMOTT. 

High  throned  on  heaven's  eternal  hill, 
In  number,  weight  and  measure  still 

Thou  sweetly  orderest  all  that  is ; 
And  yet  thou  deign'st  to  come  to  me 
And  guide  my  steps,  that  I,  with  thee 

Enthroned,  may  reign  in  endless  bliss. 

JOHN  WESLEY. 


M  A  B  C  H.  47 

3.  Ye  shall  be  baptized  with  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Acts  xi.  16. 

A  lively  sense  of  God's  mercy  in  Christ  and  love 
in  the  heart, — is  not  this  the  Spirit's  baptism  of  fire  ? 
And  what  have  I  to  do  in  the  world  but  to  get  and 
keep  it?  ADAM. 

0  Spirit  of  the  living  God, 
In  all  thy  plenitude  of  grace, 

Where'er  the  foot  of  man  hath  trod, 
Descend  on  our  apostate  race. 

MONTGOMERY. 


4.  Faith  is  the  substance  of  things 
hoped  for,  the  evidence  of 
things  not  seen.  Hei.  xi.  i. 

Faith  is  a  certain  image  of  eternity:  all  things 
are  present  to  it:  things  past  and  things  to  come 
are  all  so  before  the  eyes  of  faith  that  he  in  whose 
eye  that  candle  is  enkindled  beholds  heaven  as 
present,  and  sees  how  blessed  a  thing  it  is  to  die  in 
God's  favour  and  to  be  chimed  to  our  grave  with 
the  music  of  a  good  conscience. 

JEREMY  TAYLOR. 


48  MARCH. 

Faith  can  raise  earth  to  heaven,  or  draw  down 

Heaven  to  earth ;  make  both  extremes  to  meet, — 

Felicity  and  misery ;  can  crown 

Reproach  with  honour ;  season  sour  with  sweet. 

Nothing's  impossible  to  faith :  a  man 

May  do  all  things  that  he  believes  he  can. 

GEORGE  HERBERT. 

5.  I  press  toward  the  mark  for  the 

prize  of  the  high  calling  of 
God  in  Christ  Jesus. 

Phil.  iii.  14. 

Be  assured  that  the  white  robes  of  the  blessed  are 
not  the  robes  of  indolence,  but  the  mantles  and 
decorations  of  conquest.  ARCHER  BUTLER. 

Unwearied  may  I  this  pursue, 
Dauntless  to  the  high  prize  aspire, 

Hourly  within  my  soul  renew 

This  holy  flame,  this  heavenly  fire, 

And  day  and  night  be  all  my  care 

To  guard  the  sacred  treasure  there ! 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 

6.  Lay  ujf  for  yourselves  treasures 

in  heaven,  where  neither  moth 
nor   rust    doth    corrupt,    and 


MARCH.  49 

where  thieves  do  not  break 
through  nor  steal.  For  where 
your  treasure  is,  there  will 
your  heart  be  also. 

Matt.  vi.  20,  21. 

I  had  rather  enter  into  the  meaning  of  this  say- 
ing, and  be  in  full  possession  of  the  spirit  of  it,  than 
be  lord  of  the  universe.  ADAM. 

That  precious  wealth  shall  be  their  dower 

Which  cannot  know  decay, — 
Which  moth  or  rust  shall  ne'er  devour 

Or  spoiler  take  away. 

LTTB. 

7.  Teach  me  to  do  thy  will;    for 
thou  art  my  God. 

Psalm  cxliii.  10. 

We  make  Christ  but  a  titular  prince  if  we  call 
him  king  and  do  not  his  will. 

MATTHEW  HENRY. 

Peace,  troubled  soul,  thou  need'st  not  fear : 
Thy  great  Provider  still  is  near ; 
Who  fed  thee  last  will  feed  thee  still ; 
Be  calm,  and  sink  into  his  will. 
J)  5 


50  MARCH. 

8.  Wherefore,  seeing  we  also  are 
compassed  about  with  so  great 
a  cloud  of  witnesses,  let  us  lay 
aside  every  weight,  and  the 
sin  which  doth  so  easily  beset 
us,  and  let  us  run  with  pa- 
tience the  race  that  is  set  be- 
fore US.  Heb.  xii.  1. 

What  we  do  is  transacted  on  a  stage  of  which 
all  in  the  universe  are  spectators.  What  we  say  is 
transmitted  in  echoes  that  will  never  cease.  What 
we  are  is  influencing  and  acting  on  the  rest  of  man- 
kind. Neutral  we  cannot  be.  Living,  we  act,  and 
dead,  we  speak ;  and  the  whole  universe  is  the 
mighty  company,  forever  looking,  forever  listening, 
and  all  nature  the  tablets,  forever  recording  the 
words,  the  deeds,  the  thoughts,  the  passions,  of 
mankind.  •  GUMMING. 

Press  on ;  the  loved  behold  thee  now : 
Press  on ;  they'll  welcome  thee  above : 

Press  on,  until  upon  thy  brow 

Is  placed  the  glorious  crown  of  love. 


MABCH.  51 

9.  And  he  arose,  and  rebuked  the 

wind,  and  said  unto  the  sea, 
Peace,  be  still.  And  the  wind 
ceased,  and  there  was  a  great 

Calm.  Mark  iv.  39. 

When  without  are  fightings  and  within  are  fears, 
Christ  can  give  peace.  If  he  say,  "  Peace,  he  still," 
there  is  a  great  calm.  HENRY. 

Commit  thou  all  thy  griefs 

And  ways  into  his  hands, 
To  his  sure  trust  and  tender  care, 

Who  earth  and  heayen  commands ; 
Who  points  the  clouds  their  course, 

Whom  winds  and  seas  obey : 
He  shall  direct  thy  wandering  feet, 

He  shall  prepare  thy  way. 

J.  WESLEY. 

10.  This  year  thou  shalt  die. 

Jer.  xxviii.  16. 

Conscience  is  a  clock  which  in  one  man  strikes 
aloud  and  gives  warning;  in  another  the  hands 
point  silently  to  the  figures,  but  strike  not :  mean- 
time hours  pass  away,  and  death  hastens,  and  after 
death  comes  judgment.  BISHOP  TAYLOR. 


52  M  A  K  C  H. 

The  year  rolls  round,  and  steals  away 

The  breath  that  first  it  gave  : 
Whate'er  we  do,  where'er  we  be, 

We're  travelling  to  the  grave. 

WATTS. 

11.  Choose  you  this  day  whom  ye 

will  serve.  Joshua  xxiv.  15. 

A   partial,  half  religion   is  a  state   of  terrible 
anxiety.  ADAM. 

I  choose  the  path  of  heavenly  truth, 

And  glory  in  my  choice  : 
Not  all  the  riches  of  the  earth 

Could  make  me  so  rejoice. 

WATTS. 

12.  For  ye  have  need  of  patience, 

that  after  ye  have  done  the 
will  of  God  ye  might  receive 
the  promise.  Seb.  x.  36. 


On  earth  prayer,  improvement,  waiting;  in  heaven, 
praise,  perfection,  happiness.  ADAM. 

Through  waves  and  clouds  and  storms 

He  gently  clears  thy  way  : 
Wait  thou  his  time  ;  so  shall  this  night 

Soon  end  in  joyous  day. 

J.  WESLEY. 


MARCH.  53 

13.  They  shall  lie  down  alike  in  the 
dust,  and  the  worms  shall 
cover  them.  Job  xxi.  26. 

A  man  may  read  a  sermon  the  best  and  most  pas- 
sionate that  ever  man  preached,  if  he  shall  but  enter 
into  the  sepulchres  of  kings.  There  is  an  acre  sown 
with  royal  seeds,  the  copy  of  the  greatest  change, 
— from  rich  to  naked,  from  ceiled  roofs  to  arched 
coffins,  from  living  like  gods  to  die  like  men. 

JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

There,  when  the  turmoil  is  no  more 

And  all  our  powers  decay, 
Our  cold  remains  in  solitude 

Shall  sleep  the  years  away. 

HENRY  KIBKK  WHITE. 


14.  "Wait  on  the  Lord:  be  of  good 
courage,  and  he  shall  strength- 
en thine  heart :  wait,  I  say,  on 

the  Lord.  Psalm  xxvii.  14. 

In  the  lovely  relationship  of  prayer  the  highest 
and  the  lowest  may  be  invisibly  united. 

ARCHER  BUTLER. 

5* 


54  MARCH. 

0  thou  who  mournest  on  thy  way, 
With  longings  for  the  close  of  day ! 
He  walks  with  thee,  that  Saviour  kind, 
And  gently  whispers,  "  Be  resign'd." 
,       Bear  up,  bear  on :  the  end  shall  tell 
The  dear  Lord  ordereth  all  things  well. 

15.  My  flesh  and  my  heart  faileth, 

but  God  is  the  strength  of  my 
heart,  and  my  portion  forever. 

Psalm  Ixxiii.  26. 

With  the  single  exclamation,  "  My  God !  my  God  \" 
the  spirit  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  passed  from  the 
storm  of  battle  into  the  world  of  rest. 

What  though  my  flesh  and  heart  decay  ? 
Thee  shall  I  love  in  endless  day. 

16.  Examine  yourselves,  whether  ye 

be  in  the  faith;   prove  your 
own  selves.  2  Cor.  xui.  5 

Do  I  bring  myself  to  the  touchstone  of  truth,  or 
make  myself  the  touchstone?  ADAM. 

What  image  does  my  spirit  bear  ? 
Is  Jesus  form'd  and  living  there  ? 

DAVIKS. 
54 


MARCH.  55 

17.  The  staff  of  bread.    Psalm  cv.  16. 

We  are  to  ask  for  and  to  use  these  earthly  enjoy- 
ments only  as  travellers,  that  make  use  of  a  staff 
for  their  help  and  support  whilst  they  are  in  their 
passage  home.  And  we  are  hereby  also  taught  to 
crave  no  more  than  will  suffice  for  our  convenient 
supplies:  otherwise  we  make  our  staff  our  burden 
and  our  support  itself  a  load  and  pressure. 

HOPKINS. 

Father,  supply  my  every  need ; 

Sustain  the  life  thyself  hast  given : 
Oh,  grant  the  never-failing  bread, 

The  manna  that  comes  down  from  heaven. 

18.  Bless    them    which    persecute 

you ;  bless,  and  curse  not. 

Rom.  xii.  14. 

My  lord,  more  I  have  not  to  say,  but  that  like 
as  the  blessed  apostle  St.  Paul  was  present  and 
consented  to  the  death  of  St.  Stephen  and  kept  the 
clothes  of  them  that  stoned  him,  and  yet  they  be 
both  twain  compeers  and  holy  saints  in  heaven  and 
shall  continue  there  friends  together  forever;  so  I 
verily  trust  and  heartily  pray  that  though  your 
lordships  have  on  earth  been  my  judges  to  my  con- 


56  M  A  E  C  H. 

demnation,  we  may  yet  hereafter  meet  in  heaven  to 
our  everlasting  salvation. 

Conclusion  of  SIR  THOMAS  MORE'S  address 
to  his  judges  after  sentence  of  death 
passed  upon  him. 

Whene'er  the  angry  passions  rise, 

And  tempt  our  thoughts  and  tongues  to  strife, 
To  Jesus  let  us  lift  our  eyes, 

Bright  pattern  of  the  Christian  life. 

19.  That  I  may  know  him,  and  the 

power  of  his  resurrection,  and 
the  fellowship  of  his  suffer- 
ings, being  made  conformable 
unto  his  death.  Phil.  m.  10. 

One  sensible  experimental  proof  of  Christ's  power 
and  presence  in  time  of  conflict,  of  danger  or  tempta- 
tion, will  hardly  ever  be  forgotten,  and  binds  the 
soul  to  him  in  trust  and  affiance  more  than  a  thou- 
sand arguments.  ADAM. 
Counting  gain  and  glory  loss, 

May  I  tread  the  path  he  trod, 
Die  with  Jesus  on  the  cross, 
Rise  with  him  to  live  with  God ! 

20.  I  would  not  live  alway. 

Job  vii.  16. 


MARCH.  57 

This  is  a  place  of  sorrows  and  tears,  of  great  evils 
and  a  constant  calamity :  let  us  remove  from  hence, 
at  least  in  affections  and  preparation  of  mind. 

JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

I  would  not  live  alway,  away  from  my  God, 
Away  from  yon  heaven,  that  blissful  abode, — 
Where  the  rivers  of  pleasure  flow  o'er  the  bright  plains 
And  the  noontide  of  glory  eternally  reigns. 

MUHLENBEEG. 


21.  Tarry  ye  here,  and  watch  with 

me.  Matt.  xxvi.  38. 

Surely  he  was  destitute  indeed  of  help  when 
he  entreated  them  who  he  knew  would  be  but 
miserable  comforters.  But  he  would  hereby  teach 
us  the  benefit  of  the  communion  of  saints. 

HENRY. 

0  Thou  who  in  the  garden's  shade 

Didst  wake  thy  weary  ones  again, 
Who  slumber'd  at  that  fearful  hour, 

Forgetful  of  thy  pain, — 
Bend  o'er  us  now,  as  over  them, 

And  set  our  sleep-bound  spirits  free, 
Nor  leave  us  slumbering  in  the  watch 

Our  souls  should  keep  with  thee. 

WHITTIBR. 


58  MARCH. 

22.  Strong  in  faith.          Rom.  iv.  20. 

Faith  can  do  more  than  remove  mountains :  it 
can  still  a  clamorous  conscience,  make  a  bad  con- 
science good,  soften  a  hard  heart,  bend  a  stubborn 
will,  and  bring  God  and  man  together.  ADAM. 

There  faith  lifts  up  her  cheerful  eye, 

To  brighter  prospects  given, 
And  views  the  tempest  passing  by, 
The  evening  shadows  quickly  fly, 

And  all  serene  in  heaven. 

TAPPAN. 

23.  Therefore,   if   any  man   be   in 

Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature : 
old  things  are  passed  away; 
behold,  all  things  are  become 

new.  2  Cor.  v.  17. 

The  appearance  of  every  thing  was  altered:  there 
seemed  to  be  as  it  were  a  calm,  sweet  cast  or  appear- 
ance of  divine  glory  in  almost  every  thing.  I  often 
used  to  sit  and  view  the  moon  for  a  long  time,  and 
in  the  day  spent  much  time  in  viewing  the  clouds 
and  sky,  to  behold  the  sweet  glory  of  God  in  these 
things, — in  the  mean  time  singing  forth,  with  a  low 
voice,  my  contemplations  of  the  Creator  and  Re- 
deemer. EDWARDS. 


MARCH.  59 

Softness,  and  peace,  and  joy,  and  love,  and  bliss ; 

Exalted  manna ;  gladness  of  the  best ; 

Heaven  in  ordinary ;  man  well  drest  ; 
The  milky  way ;  the  bird  of  paradise  ; 
Church-bells  beyond  the  stars  heard ;  the  soul's  blood ; 
The  land  of  spices ;  something  understood. 

HERBERT. 

24.  We  spend  our  years  as  a  tale 

that  is  told.  Psalm  xc.  9. 

Night  is  hastening  and  spreading  its  wings  over 
us.  We  burn  away  our  precious  days  and  miserably 
waste  our  light  and  our  life.  We  exhaust  our 
strength  and  lavish  out  our  affections  upon  toys 
and  fond  nothings ;  and  that  life  of  our's  which  the 
Psalmist  calls  a  "  tale"  for  its  shortness,  we  make  a 
tale  for  its  vanity.  BISHOP  HOPKINS. 

And  is  it  in  the  flight  of  threescore  years 
To  push  eternity  from  human  thought 
And  smother  souls  immortal  in  the  dust  ? 

YOUNG. 

25.  Love  your  enemies ;  bless  them 

that  curse  you;  do  good  to 
them  that  hate  you,  and  pray 
for  them  which  despitefully 
use  you  and  persecute  you. 

Matt.  v.  44. 


60  MARCH. 

When  I  pray  as  heartily  for  my  enemy  as  I  do 
for  my  daily  bread, — when  I  strive  with  prayers 
and  tears  to  make  God  Ms  friend  who  himself  will 
not  be  mine, — when  I  reckon  his  felicity  amongst 
my  own  necessities, — surely  this  is  such  a  love  as 
in  a  literal  sense  may  be  said  to  reach  up  to  heaven. 

SOUTH. 

0  loving  and  forgiving, 

Ye  angel  words  of  earth, 
Years  were  not  worth,  the  living 

If  ye  too  had  not  birth : 
Still  breathe  your  influence  o'er  us 

Whene'er  by  passion  cross'd, 
And,  angel-like,  restore  us 

The  paradise  we  lost. 


26.  My  voice  shalt  thou  hear  in  the 
morning,  0  Lord.     Psalm  \.  3. 

No  word  spoken  to  God  from  the  serious  sense 
of  a  holy  heart  is  lost :  he  receives  it  and  returns 
it  into  our  bosom  with  advantage.  A  soul  that 
delights  to  speak  with  him  will  find  that  he  also 
delights  to  speak  with  it.  And  this  communication 
certainly  is  the  sweetest  and  happiest  choice, — to 
speak  little  with  men  and  much  with  God. 

LEIGHTON. 


MARCH.  61 

I  cannot  ope  mine  eyes, 

But  thou  art  ready  there,  to  catch 

My  morning  soul  and  sacrifice. 

HERBERT. 

27.  Be  of  good  cheer.       Mark  vi.  50. 

Thy  battle-cry,  0  Christian!  thy  charm  against 
despondency  in  the  great  strifes  of  life !  It  pos- 
sesses a  mystic  force  beyond  all  the  amulets  of 
Oriental  fame.  "Be  of  good  cheer."  "Never  despair." 
How  cheerfully  it  echoes  along  the  chambers  of  the 
soul !  What  a  call  to  its  sinking  energies !  How 
it  silences  the  silly  prattle  of  fear !  How  it  revives 
the  silent,  drooping  heart  of  hope  I 

Give  to  the  winds  thy  fears ; 

Hope,  and  be  undismay'd : 
God  hears  thy  sighs  and  counts  thy  tears  ; 

God  shall  lift  up  thy  head. 

J.  WESLEY. 

28.  As  a  dream  when  one  awaketh. 

Psalm  Ixxiii.  20. 

What  is  this  world  ?  A  dream  within  a  dream. 
As  we  grow  older,  each  step  is  an  awakening.  The 
youth  awakes,  as  he  thinks,  from  childhood;  the  full- 
grown  man  despises  the  pursuits  of  youth  as  vision- 
ary; the  old  man  looks  on  manhood  as  a  feverish 
dream.  The  grave,  the  last  sleep  ?  No !  it  is  the  last 
and  final  awakening.  WALTER  SCOTT. 

6 


62  MARCH. 

Our  waking  dreams  are  fatal.     How  I  dreamt 
Of  things  impossible !  (Could  sleep  do  more  ?) 
Of  joys  perpetual  in  perpetual  change ! 
Of  stable  pleasures  on  the  tossing  wave ! 
Eternal  sunshine  in  the  storms  of  life  ! 
How  richly  were  my  noontide  trances  hung 
With  gorgeous  tapestries  of  pictured  joys, — 
Joy  behind  joy,  in  endless  perspective, — 
Till,  at  Death's  toll,  .  .  . 
Starting  I  woke,  and  found  myself  undone. 

YOUNG. 

29.  For   by  grace   are    ye    saved, 

through  faith;  and  that  not 
of  yourselves :  it  is  the  gift  of 

God.  EpJi.  ii.  8. 

Mercy  is  God's  right  hand;  with  that  God  gives 
all:  faith  is  man's  right  hand;  with  that  man  takes 
all.  DONNE. 

Save  us  by  grace,  through  faith  alone, — 
A  faith  thou  must  thyself  impart, — 

A  faith  that  would  by  works  be  shown, 
A  faith  that  purifies  the  heart. 

C.  WESLEY. 

30.  Set    your   affection    on    things 

above,  not  on  things  on  the 
earth.  Coi.  in.  2. 


MARCH.  63 

Were  we  lodged  in  a  star,  then  the  earth  would 
appear  very  small,  and  almost  nothing,  as  the  stars 
do  now  to  us :  so,  were  we  more  above,  the  earth 
would  appear  either  as  very  small  or  as  nothing. 
Thus  it  is  with  a  child  of  God :  he  soars  up  by  the 
wings  of  faith  and  love  to  the  heavenly  Jerusalem, 
and  the  earth  appears  very  inconsiderable. 

HOPKINS. 

From  earth  we  shall  quickly  remove 
And  mount  to  our  native  abode, — 

The  house  of  our  Father  above, — 
The  palace  of  angels  and  God. 

31.  Cleanse  thou  me  from  secret 

faults.  .FWmxix.-12. 

Not  a  few  of  the  tragedies  of  sin  are  wrought  out 
before  no  witnesses  but  God  and  the  erring  soul. 
Men  heap  up  wrath  in  the  secret  places  of  their 
own  hearts.  Fearful  histories  there  are  of  souls 
undone,  which  will  only  be  read  when  the  books 
shall  be  opened  at  the  final  judgment. 

Oh,  bid  my  fainting  spirit  live, 

And  what  is  dark  reveal, 
And  what  is  evil,  oh,  forgive, 

And  what  is  broken  heal, 
And  cleanse  my  nature  from  above 
In  the  deep  Jordan  of  thy  love. 


APRIL. 

1.  I  CAN  do  all  things  through  Christ 

which  strengtheneth  me. 

Phil  iv.  13. 

What  can  I  not  bear  with  the  help  of  God  ?  What 
can  I  do  or  suffer  without  it  ?  ADAM. 

Strong  in  the  Lord  of  Hosts 

And  in  his  mighty  power, 
Who  in  the  strength  of  Jesus  trusts 

Is  more  than  conqueror. 

2.  When  the  times  of  refreshing 

shall  come  from  the  presence 
of  the  Lord.  Acts  \\\.  19. 

Prayer  is  the  key  to  open  the  day  and  the  bolt 
to  shut  in  the  night.  But  as  the  skies  drop  the 
early  dew  and  the  evening  dew  upon  the  grass, 
yet  it  would  not  spring  and  grow  green  by  that 
constant  and  double  falling  of  the  dew,  unless  some 
great  showers  at  certain  seasons  did  supply  the  rest: 

04 


APRIL.  65 

so  the  customary  devotion  of  prayer  twice  a  day  is 
the  falling  of  the  early  and  the  latter  dew;  but,  if 
you  will  increase  and  flourish  in  the  works  of  grace, 
empty  the  great  clouds  sometimes,  and  let  them  fall 
into  a  full  shower  of  prayer ;  choose  out  the  seasons 
in  your  own  discretion  when  prayer  shall  overflow 
like  Jordan  in  the  time  of  harvest. 

JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

Saviour,  visit  thy  plantation ; 

Grant  us,  Lord,  a  gracious  rain : 
All  will  come  to  desolation 

Unless  thou  return  again. 

NEWTON. 


3.  Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but 
thee  ?  and  there  is  none  upon 
earth  that  I  desire  besides 

thee.  Psalm  Ixxiii.  25. 

It  is  to  thee,  0  Lord  God,  that  I  owe  all  things, 
and  it  is  to  thee  that  I  now  surrender  up  all  that  I 
am.  Do  with  me,  0  my  God,  whatsoever  thou 
pleasest.  Thou  seest  my  weakness  and  misery 
without  thee.  Thou  knowest  that  there  is  nothing 
in  heaven  or  on  earth  that  I  desire  but  thee  alone. 

MADAME  GUYON. 
B  6* 


66  APRIL. 

And,  oh,  when  faith  is  merged  in  sight 
And  death's  mysterious  shadows  flee, 

Thee  first  in  that  unfading  world 
The  just  made  perfect  long  to  see. 

The  rainbow  round  the  throne  grows  dim ; 

The  pearly  gates  attract  no  more  ; 
For  heart  and  eye  with  Christ  are  fill'd, 

And  Faith  can  hare  no  richer  store. 

JONES. 

4.  Let  my  prayer  be  set  forth  before 
thee  as  incense,  and  the  lift- 
ing up  of  my  hands  as  the 
evening  sacrifice,  fsaim  cxii.  2. 

Sincere  confession, — praising  of  the  holy  name  of 
our  God,  with  thankful  acknowledgment  of  re- 
ceived mercies, — of  these  sweet  ingredient  per- 
fumes is  the  incense  of  prayer  composed;  and  by 
the  divine  fire  of  love  it  ascends  unto  God,  the 
heart  and  all  with  it ;  and  when  the  hearts  of  the 
saints  unite  in  joint  prayer,  the  pillar  of  sweet 
smoke  goes  up  the  greater  and  the  fuller. 

LEIGHTON. 

Softly  now  the  light  of  day 
Fades  upon  our  sight  away  : 
Free  from  care,  from  labour  free, 
Lord,  we  would  commune  with  thee. 


A  P  E I L.  67 

Soon  from  us  the  light  of  day 
Shall  forever  pass  away : 
T!i  en,  from  sin  and  sorrow  free, 
Taka  us,  Lord,  to  dwell  with  thee. 


5.  The  angel  of  the  Lord  encampeth 
round  about  them  that  fear 
him,  and  delivereth  them. 

Psalm,  xxxiv.  7. 

Faith  is  the  realizing  power.  Beholding  God 
even  now  around  us,  it  prepares  for  heaven  by 
already  habituating  to  the  presence  of  heaven's 
eternal  Master.  Even  this  existing  world  is  a 
scene  of  deep  awe  to  the  spirit  of  faith :  it  is  per- 
vaded by  the  providence  of  God ;  it  is  visited  by 
his  angels. 

How  oft  do  they  their  silver  bowers  leave 
To  come  to  succour  us,  that  succour  want ! 

How  oft  do  they  with  golden  pinions  cleave 
The  flitting  skies,  like  flying  pursuivant, 
Against  foul  fiends  to  aid  us  militant ! 

They  for  us  fight,  they  watch  and  duly  ward, 
And  their  bright  squadrons  round  about  us  plant, 

And  all  for  love,  and  nothing  for  reward : 

Oh,  why  should  heavenly  God  to  men  have  such 
regard  ? 

SPENSER. 


68  APRIL. 

6.  For  the  Lamb  which  is  in  the 
midst  of  the  throne  shall  feed 
them,  and  shall  lead  them  unto 
living  fountains  of  waters: 
and  God  shall  wipe  away  all 
tears  from  their  eves. 

Rev.  vii.  17. 

If  it  be  a  worthy  object  of  ambition  to  be  loved 
by  the  good  and  the  great  on  earth,  what  must  it 
be  to  have  an  eye  of  love  ever  beaming  upon  us 
from  the  Throne  ? 

His  own  soft  hand  shall  wipe  the  tears 

From  every  weeping  eye, 
And  pains  and  groans  and  griefs  and  fears, 

And  death  itself,  shall  die. 

WATTS. 


7.  They  cry  unto  the  Lord  in  their 
trouble,  and  he  saveth  them 
out  of  their  distresses. 

Psalm  cvii.  19. 

Trouble  is  the  engine  in  God's  hands  to  lift  us 
up  to  heaven.  ADAM. 


APRIL.  69 

Though  earth-born  shadows  now  may  shroud 

Thy  thorny  path  a  while, 
God's  blessed  word  can  part  each  cloud 

And  bid  the  sunshine  smile. 

BERNARD  BARTON. 

8.  And  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord 
shall  return,  and  come  to 
Zion,  with  songs  and  ever- 
lasting joy  upon  their  heads. 

Isaiah  xxxv.  10. 

A  being  already  invested  with  a  deathless  life, 
already  adopted  into  the  immediate  family  of  God, 
already  enrolled  in  the  brotherhood  of  angels, — yea, 
of  the  Lord  of  angels, — a  being  who,  amid  all  the 
revolutions  of  earth  and  skies,  feels  and  knows  him- 
self indestructible,  capacitated  to  outlast  the  universe, 
a  sharer  in  the  immortality  of  God : — what  is  there 
that  can  be  said  of  such  a  one  which  falls  not  below 
the  awful  glory  of  his  position  ? 

ARCHER  BUTLER. 

Through  thee,  who  all  our  sins  hast  borne, 

Freely  and  graciously  forgiven, 
With  songs  to  Zion  we  return, 

Contending  for  our  native  heaven  : 
That  palace  of  our  glorious  King, — 
We  find  it  nearer  while  we  sing. 

CHARLES  WBBLBT. 


70  A  P  E I L. 

9.  A   book    of   remembrance   was 

written.  Mai.  m.  16. 

The  air  is  one  vast  library,  on  whose  pages  are 
forever  written  all  that  man  has  ever  said  or  woman 
whispered.  BABBAGE. 

Almighty  Judge !  how  shall  poor  wretches  brook 

Thy  dreadful  look — 
Able  an  heart  of  iron  to  appall — 

When  thou  shalt  call 
For  every  man's  peculiar  book  ? 

HERBERT. 

10.  But  it  shall  come  to  pass  that  at 

evening  time  it  shall  be  light. 

Zech.  xiv.  7. 

I  am  come  to  the  eve  of  a  great  and  eternal  day : 
I  have  learned  more  divinity  in  ten  days  than  in 
fifty  years  before.  Dying  words  of  RIVET. 

Hold  on  thy  way,  with  hope  unchill'd, 

By  faith,  and  not  by  sight, 
And  thou  shalt  own  his  word  fulfill'd:  • 

At  eve  it  shall  be  light. 

BARTON. 

11.  That  mortality  might  be  swal- 

lowed Up  Of  life.         2  Cor.  v.  4. 


APRIL.  71 

Our  future  existence  will  be  the  same  kind  of  life  or 
state  of  being  continued  which  we  are  fixed  in  here. 
Death  makes  no  alteration  in  our  condition :  it  only 
clears  up  our  mistakes  about  it.  ADAM. 

This  is  the  bad  of  being,  the  dim  dawn, 
The  twilight  of  our  day,  the  vestibule. 

YOUNG. 


12.  For  I  know  the  thoughts  that  I 
think  toward  you,  saith  the 
Lord,  thoughts^of  peace  and 

not  Of  evil.  Jer.  xxix.  11. 

We  looked  for  a  judge,  and  behold  a  Saviour;  we 
feared  an  accuser,  and  behold  an  advocate ;  we  sat 
down  in  sorrow,  and  rise  in  joy;  we  leaned  upon 
rhubarb  and  aloes,  and  our  aprons  were  made  of  the 
sharp  leaves  of  Indian  fig-trees,  and  so  we  fed 
and  so  were  clothed;  but  the  rhubarb  proved 
medicinal,  and  the  rough  leaf  of  the  tree  brought 
its  fruit  wrapped  up  in  its  foldings ;  and  round 
about  our  dwellings  was  planted  a  hedge  of  thorns 
and  bundles  of  thistles,  the  aconite  and  the 
bryony,  the  night-shade  and  the  poppy ;  and  at  the 
root  of  these  grew  the  healing  plantain,  which, 


7Z  APRIL. 

rising  up  into  a  tallness  by  the  friendly  invitation 
of  heavenly  influence,  turned  about  the  tree  of  the 
cross,  and  cured  the  wounds  of  the  thorns,  and  the 
curse  of  the  thistles,  and  the  malediction  of  man, 
and  the  wrath  of  God.  JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

Each  evening  shows  thy  tender  love, 
Each  rising  morn  thy  plenteous  grace : 

Thy  waken'd  wrath  doth  slowly  move ; 
Thy  willing  mercy  flies  apace. 

JOHN  WESLEY. 


13.  Again,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is 
like  unto'a  merchantman  seek- 
ing goodly  pearls,  who,  when 
he  had  found  one  pearl  of  great 
price,  went  and  sold  all  that 
he  had,  and  bought  it. 

Matt.  xiii.  45,  56. 

The  pleasure  of  the  religious  man  is  an  easy  and 
a  portable  pleasure, — such  an  one  as  he  carries  about 
in  his  bosom,  without  alarming  either  the  eye  or  the 
envy  of  the  world.  A  man  putting  all  his  pleasure 
into  this  one  is  like  a  traveller  putting  all  his 
goods  into  one  jewel :  the  value  is  the  same,  and 
the  convenience  greater.  SOUTH. 


APRIL.  73 

Who  is  as  the  Christian  wise  ? 

He  his  nought  for  all  has  given, 
Bought  the  pearl  of  greatest  price, 

Nobly  barter'd  earth  for  heaven. 


14.  See,  I  have  set  before  thee  this 
day  life  and  good,  and  death 
and  evil.  Deut.  xxx.  15. 


Each  day  is  a  new  life  and  an  abridgment  of  the 
whole.  I  will  so  live  as  if  I  counted  every  day  my 
first  and  my  last,  —  as  if  I  began  to  live  but  then  and 
should  live  no  more  afterwards.  HALL. 

The  present  we  should  now  redeem  ; 

This  only  is  our  own  : 
The  past,  alas  !  is  all  a  dream  ; 

The  future  is  unknown. 


15.  Light  affliction,  which  is  but  for 
a  moment.  2  GOT.  iv.  17. 

One  thought  of  eternity  drowns  the  whole  time 
of  the  world's  duration,  which  is  but  as  one  instant, 
or  twinkling  of  an  eye,  between  eternity  before  and 
eternity  after.  How  much  less  is  my  short  life ! — yea, 
what  is  it  though  it  were  all  sufferings  without  in- 


74  A  P  B I L. 

terruption, — which  yet  it  is  not !  When  I  look  for- 
ward to  the  crown,  all  vanishes,  and  I  think  it  less 
than  nothing.  LEIGHTON. 

What  if  the  bread 

Be  bitter  in  thine  inn,  and  thou  unshod, 
To  meet  the  flints  ? — At  least  it  may  be  said, 
"  Because  the  way  is  short,  I  thank  thee,  God!  " 
MRS.  BROWNING. 


16.  It  shall  come  to  pass,  [saith  the 
Lord,]  that  before  they  call  I 
will  answer,  and  while  they 
are  yet  speaking  I  will  hear. 

Isaiah  Ixv.  24. 

A  quicker  communion  with  God  have  we  than 
even  that  suggested  by  the  wondrous  electric  tele- 
graph ;  for  God  hears  us  while  we  speak,  answers  us 
before  we  ask,  and  in  every  case  exceeding  abun- 
dantly above  all  that  we  can  ask  or  think. 

GUMMING. 

Prayer — the  Church's  banquet ;  angels'  age ; 

God's  breath  in  man  returning  to  his  .birth; 
The  soul  in  paraphrase ;  heart  in  pilgrimage  ; 

The  Christian  plummet,  sounding  heaven  and  earth. 

HERBERT. 


APRIL.  75 

17.  Therefore  they  shall  come  and 
sing  in  the  height  of  Zion,  and 
shall  flow  together  to  the  good- 
ness of  the  Lord,  for  wheat, 
and  for  wine,  and  for  oil ; . . .  and 
their  soul  shall  be  as  a  watered 
garden,  and  they  shall  not 
sorrow  any  more  at  all. 

Jer.  xxxi.  12. 


We  are  called  into  the  family  of  God;  we  are 
placed  as  guests  at  the  banquet  of  heaven;  the 
treasure-cities  of  eternity  are  exhausted  of  their 
wealth  to  adorn  and  enrich  us. 

ARCHER  BUTLER. 


When  music  and  devotion  join, 

The  way  to  Canaan  pleasant  is ; 
We  travel  on  with  songs  divine, 

Ravish'd  with  sacred  ecstasies : 
No  longer  do  we  pass 
Through  a  dry,  barren  wilderness, 
But  through  a  land  where  milk  and  honey  flow : 
The  path  to  heaven  above  leads  through  a  heaven  below. 


76  APRIL. 

18.  That  ye  may  be  mindful  of  the 
words  which  were  spoken  be- 
fore by  the  holy  prophets,  and 
of  the  commandment  of  us 
the  apostles  of  the  Lord  and 
Saviour.  2  Pet.  iii.  2. 

The  Bible  claims  to  be  divine.  It  contains  im- 
portant statements  on  subjects  of  vast  magnitude. 
It  presents  itself  to  our  notice  under  the  highest  of 
all  authority.  It  declares  that  on  its  reception  or 
rejection  depend  our  greatest  interests  in  time  and 
eternity.  And  in  support  of  all  these  claims  and 
assertions  it  exhibits  an  amount  of  evidence  which, 
for  weight  and  clearness,  can  be  produced  by  no 
other  book  in  the  world.  PEARSON. 

'Tis  a  broad  land  of  wealth  unknown, 

Where  springs  of  life  arise, 
Seeds  of  immortal  bliss  are  sown, 

And  hidden  glory  lies. 


19.  I  will  praise  thee,  for  I  am  fear- 
fully and  wonderfully  made. 

Psalm  cxxxix.  14. 


APRIL.  77 

Did  we  but  seriously  consider  by  what  small  pins 
this  frame  of  man  is  held  together,  it  would  appear 
no  less  than  a  miracle  to  us  that  we  live  one  day  or 
hour  to  an  end.  HOPKINS. 

Thou  know'st  the  texture  of  my  heart, 
My  reins,  and  every  vital  part : 
I'll  praise  thee,  from  whose  hands  I  came 
A  work  of  such  a  wondrous  frame. 


20.  And  his  feet  like  unto  fine  brass, 

as  if  they  burned  in  a  furnace. 

Rev.  i.  15. 

We  took  a  view  of  the  brass-works  at  North 
Common;  and  one  thing  I  learned  here, — the  pro- 
priety of  that  expression,  "  His  feet  were  as  fine 
brass  burning  in  the  furnace."  The  brightness  of 
this  cannot  easily  be  conceived.  I  have  seen  nothing 
like  it  but  clear,  white  lightning. 

JOHN  WESLEY. 

Thou  shin'st  with  everlasting  rays : 

Before  the  insufferable  blaze 

Angels  with  both  wings  veil  their  eyes. 

21.  Their  inward  thought  is,  that 

their   houses   shall    continue 

r» 


78  APRIL. 

forever,  and  their  dwelling- 
places  to  all  generations :  they 
call  their  lands  after  their 
own  names.  Nevertheless  man 
being  in  honour  abideth  not :  he 
is  like  the  beasts  that  perish. 

Psalm  xlix.  11,  12. 

An  old  woman  who  showed  the  house  and  pictures 
at  Towcester  expressed  herself  in  these  remarkable 
words  : — "  That  is  Sir  Eobert  Farmer  :  he  lived  in 
the  country,  took  care  of  his  estate,  built  this  house 
and  paid  for  it,  managed  well,  saved  money,  and 
died  rich.  That  is  his  son :  he  was  made  a  lord, 
took  a  place  at  court,  spent  his  estate  and  died  a 
beggar." 

Why  all  this  toil  for  triumphs  of  an  hour  ? 
What  though  we  wade  in  wealth  or  soar  in  fame  ? 
Earth's  highest  station  ends  in,  "  Here  he  lies," 
And  "Dust  to  dust"  concludes  her  noblest  song. 

YOUNG. 


22.  But  go  ye  rather  to  them  that 
sell,  and  buy  for  yourselves. 

Matt.  xxv.  9. 


APRIL.  79 

Who  are  they  ?  None  has  this  oil  but  Christ ; 
and  he  does  not  sell,  but  give.  The  price,  if  any,  is 
self-emptiness  and  sense  of  misery.  G-o  to  him  in- 
stantly. It  may  be  too  late  to-morrow. 

THOMAS  ADAM. 

See  from  the  Bock  a  fountain  rise : 
For  you  in  healing  streams  it  rolls : 

Money  ye  need  not  bring,  nor  price, 
Ye  labouring,  burden'd,  sin-sick  souls. 

J.  WESLEY. 

23.  And  now,  Lord,  what  wait  I 

for?  my  hope  is  in  thee. 

Psalm  xxxix.  7. 

A  lowly  supplicant  to  God  never  rose  up  from 
his  knees  without  some  stirrings  of  gracious  ex- 
pectation, nor  without  a  prophetical  instinct  that 
the  mercy  of  the  Lord  was  nigh  at  hand. 

JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

Then  once  more  pray : 

Down  with  thy  knees,  up  with  thy  voice : 
Seek  pardon  first,  and  God  will  say, 

"  Glad  heart,  rejoice." 

HERBERT. 

24.  I  thank   God,   through    Jesus 

Christ  our  Lord.     Rom.  vii.  25. 


80  APRIL. 

I  owe  it  to  Jesus  that  I  have  a  moment's  quiet. 

ADAM. 

Whether  I  fly  wi£h  angels,  fall  with  dust, 
Thy  hands  made  both,  and  I  am  there  : 

Thy  power  and  love,  my  love  and  trust 
Make  one  place  everywhere. 

HERBERT. 


25.  Thou  heardest  the  voice  of  my 
supplications    when    I    cried 

UntO  thee.        ..        Psalm  xxxi.  22. 

The  voice  of  prayer  is  not  like  other  voices :  the 
farther  they  reach  the  weaker  they  grow.  No :  that 
voice  which  is  so  weak  that  it  cannot  be  heard  be- 
yond the  compass  of  this  closet,  yet,  when  it  is  put 
forth  in  prayer,  fills  all  heaven  with  its  sound. 

HOPKINS. 

Of  what  an  easy,  quick  access, 

My  blessed  Lord,  art  thou !     How  suddenly 

May  our  requests  thine  ear  invade ! — 
To  show  that  state  dislikes  not  easiness. 

If  I  but  lift  mine  eyes,  my  suit  is  made: 
Thou  canst  no  more  not  hear  than  thou  canst  die. 

HERBERT. 


APRIL.  81 

26.  Unto  thee  will  1  cry,  0  Lord 
my  rock ;  be  not  silent  to  me : 
lest,  if  thou  be  silent  to  me,  I 
become  like  them  that  go  down 
into  the  pit.  Psalm  xxviu.  i. 

The  highest  object  of  man's  existence  is  un- 
doubtedly to  hold  communion  with  his  God.  For 
this  his  nature  was  originally  framed,  and  in  this 
alone  will  his  nature  ever  find  contentment  and 
repose.  God  is  as  it  were  the  counterpart  of  his 
being :  the  divine  and  human  elements  are  fitted 
to  each  other;  and  humanity  without  the  corre- 
sponding principle  of  Deity  is  a  thing  imperfect, 
insufficient,  incomplete.  This  it  is  that  makes 
human  life  such  an  enigma.  The  vital  tie  that  con- 
nected us  with  heaven  is  broken  :  we  are  as  a  limb 
of  the  body  separated  from  the  general  circulation. 
God  is  the  heart  of  this  universal  frame.  We  have 
deadened  the  nerve  that  conducted  his  influences. 


Whence  came  I  ? — Memory  cannot  say ; 

What  am  I? — Knowledge  will  not  show; 
Bound  whither? — Ah!  away,  away, 

Far  as  eternity  can  go : 
Thy  love  to  win,  thy  wrath  to  flee, 
0  God !  thyself  my  helper  be ! 
F 


82  APRIL. 

27.  Make  thy  face  to  shine  upon  thy 
servant.  Psalm  cxk.  135. 

Give  me  a  firm  and  tangible  hold  of  spiritual 
things.  Let  me  know  what  it  is  to  realize  experi- 
mental religion.  Oh  may  it  be  my  daily  task,  my 
hourly  exercise,  my  perennial  enjoyment! 

CHALMERS. 

Eternal  Sun  of  Righteousness, 

Display  thy  beams  divine, 
And  cause  the  glories  of  thy  face 

Upon  my  heart  to  shine. 


28.  He  will  not  suffer  me  to  take 
my  breath,  but  filleth  me  with 
bitterness.  Job  ix.  18. 

But  hath  God  dealt  so  with  thee?  Hast  thou  not 
had  a  morning  as  well  as  an  evening  to  make  up  thy 
day.  HOPKINS. 

Send  kindly  light  amid  the  encircling  gloom, 

And  lead  me  on ! 
The  night  is  dark,  and  I  am  far  from  home : 

Lead  thou  me  on ! 

Keep  thou  my  feet :  I  do  not  ask  to  see 
The  distant  scene :  one  step's  enough  for  me. 


APRIL.  83 

29.  Te  are  the  light  of  the  world. 

Matt.  v.  14. 

The  way  to  Christ  and  heaven  is  dark  or  luminous 
just  in  proportion  as  the  Church  gives  forth  a  clear 
or  a  doubtful  light.  OLIN. 

Jesus,  let  all  thy  servants  shine 

Illustrious  as  the  sun, 
And  bright  with  borrow'd  rays  divine 

Their  glorious  circuit  run. 


30.  That  in  the  ages  to  come  he 
might  show  the  exceeding 
riches  of  his  grace. 

Ephesians  ii.  7. 

Interesting  as  has  been  the  past  history  of  our 
race,  engrossing  as  must  ever  be  the  present,  the 
future,  more  exciting  still,  mingles  itself  with  every 
thought  and  sentiment,  and  casts  its  beams  of  hope, 
or  its  shadows  of  fear,  over  the  stage  both  of  active 
and  contemplative  life.  SIR  DAVID  BREW^TER. 

Immortal !  what  can  strike  the  sense  so  strong 
As  this  the  soul?  It  thunders  to  the  thought, 
Quick  kindles  all  that  is  divine  within  us, 
Nor  leaves  one  loitering  thought  beneath  the  stars. 

YOUNG. 


MAY. 

1.  AND  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place 

for  you,  I  will  come  again  and 
receive  you  unto  myself;  that 
where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be 

also.  John  xiv.  3. 

t 

In  the  journey  of  life,  as  in  other  journeys,  it  is 
a  pleasing  reflection,  that  we  have  friends  who  are 
thinking  of  us  at  home  and  who  will  receive  us 
with  joy  when  our  journey  is  at  an  end. 

HORNE, 

He  lives,  my  mansion  to  prepare ; 
He  lives,  to  bring  me  safely  there. 

MEDLEY. 

2.  And  at  midnight  there  was  a  cry 

made,  Behold  the  bridegroom 

COmeth.  Matt.  xxv.  6. 

84 


MAT.  85 

The  cry  which  is  to  awaken  us  all  out  of  our 
sleep !  Hear  it  now  in  the  depths  of  your  souls.  He 
will, — he  will  come.  ADAM. 

To  damp  our  earthly  joys, 

To  increase  our  gracious  fears, 
Forever  let  the  archangel's  voice 

Be  sounding  in  our  ears 
The  solemn  midnight  cry, — 

Ye  dead,  the  Judge  is  come ; 
Arise,  and  meet  him  in  the  sky, 

And  meet  your  instant  doom. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 


3.  One  thing  have  I  desired  of  the 
Lord,  that  will  I  seek  after. 

Psalm  xxvii.  4. 

A  heavenly  mind  gathers  itself  up  into  one  wish 
and  no  more : — Grant  me  thyself,  0  Lord,  and  I  will 
ask  no  more.  I  will  part  with  all  to  buy  that  one 
pearl, — the  riches*  of  heavenly  grace.  TAYLOR. 

Thou,  Lord,  alone,  art  all  thy  children  need, 

And  there  is  none  beside ; 
From  thee  the  streams  of  blessedness  proceed ; 

In  thee  the  blest  abide. 
Fountain  of  life  and  all-abounding  grace, 
Our  source,  our  centre  and  our  dwelling-place. 

MADAME  GUYON. 
8 


86  MAY. 

4.  But  I  trusted  in  thee,  0  Lord :  I 
said,  Thou  art  my  God. 

Psalm  xxxi.  14. 

Love  brings  a  glowing  heart  to  God.  Courage 
brings  an  heroic  heart  to  God.  Obedience  brings  a 
quick  foot  and  a  working  hand.  But  faith  brings 
nothing  to  God  but  an  empty  heart,  an  empty  mind, 
empty  hopes  and  empty  merits,  and  seeks  to  him 
for  all,  that  it  may  have  all  the  good  and  he  may 
have  all  the  glory.  GUMMING. 

Just  as  I  am, — thou  wilt  receive, 
Wilt  welcome,  pardon,  cleanse,  relieve, 
Because  thy  promise  I  believe, — 
0  Lamb  of  God,  I  come. 


5.  Let  us  hold  fast  the  profession 
of  our  faith  without  wavering; 
for  he  is  faithful  that  promised. 

Heb.  x.  23. 

Faith  is  trust  in  the  promises  of  God  for  eternity. 

ADAM. 

I  rest  upon  thy  word : 

The  promise  is  for  me : 
My  succour  and  salvation,  Lord, 

Shall  surely  come  from  thee. 


MAY.  87 

6.  For  the  invisible  things  of  him 
from  the  creation  of  the  world 
are  clearly  seen,  being  under- 
stood by  the  things  that  are 
made,  even  his  eternal  power 
and  Godhead ;  so  that  they  are 
without  excuse.  Rom.  \.  20. 

The  heathen,  then,  were  responsible;  but  the 
measure  of  our  responsibility  is  vastly  greater  than 
their's.  We  walk  amid  a  clearer  light  than  what  is 
emitted  from  those  resplendent  heavens;  we  hear 
louder,  fuller,  and  more  impressive  voices  than  any 
which  proceed  from  the  hills  and  the  valleys,  the 
woods  and  the  waters.  The  revelation  which  has 
come  to  us  direct  from  the  throne  of  the  Eternal 
places  us  on  a  ground  of  responsibility  higher  far 
than  that  occupied  by  the  most  gifted  sage  of  the 
Grecian  schools,  who  had  no  .other  light  but  the 
glimmering  light  of  nature.  PEARSON. 

Divine  Instructor  !     Thy  first  volume,  this, 

For  man's  perusal ;  all  in  capitals, 

In  moon  and  stars  (Heaven's  golden  alphabet) 

Emblazed  to  seize  the  sight,  who  runs  may  read, 

Who  reads  may  understand.     "Tis  unconfined 

To  Christian  land  or  Jewry, — fairly  writ 

In  language  universal  to  mankind.  YOUNQ. 


88  MAY. 

7.  He  leadeth  princes  away  spoiled, 
and  overthroweth  the  mighty. 

Job  xii.  19. 

Such  men,  methinks,  may  be  well  compared  to 
sumpter-horses :  they  are  laden  with  a  rich  treasure 
and  attended  with  a  numerous  train  of  servants; 
but  at  night,  when  their  load  is  taken  off,  what 
remains  to  them  of  all  their  carriage  but  only  the 
stripes  and  weariness  of  the  day  ? 

HOPKINS. 

What  pain  to  quit  the  world,  just  made  their  own, 
Their  nest  so  deeply  down'd,  and  built  so  high  ! 
Too  low  they  build,  who  build  beneath  the  stars. 

YOUNG. 


8.  Whom  having  not  seen,  ye  love; 
in  whom,  though  now  ye  see 
him  not,  yet  believing,  ye  re- 
joice with  joy  unspeakable 
and  full  of  glory.  1  Pet.  i.  8. 

Strong  love  is  a  bias  upon  the  thoughts ;  and  for 
a  man  to  love  earnestly  and  not  to  think  almost 
continually  of  what  he  loves  is  as  impossible  as  for 
him  to  live  and  not  to  breathe.  SOUTH. 


MAY.  89 

Though  unseen,  I  love  the  Saviour : 

He  hath  brought  salvation  near, 
Manifests  his  pardoning  favour, 
And,  when  Jesus  doth  appear, 

Soul  and  body 
Shall  his  glorious  image  bear. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 


9.  Who  his  own  self  bare  our  sins 
in  his  own  body  on  the  tree, 
that  we,  being  dead  to  sins, 
should  live  unto  righteousness. 

1  Pet.  ii.  24. 

Oh,  the  lifting  of  that  desperate  sinking  burthen, 
our  sins,  and  taking  them  upon  himself  for  us  !  How 
far  do  all  words,  and,  what  is  larger,  all  thoughts,  fall 
short  of  the  height  of  that  love !  LEIGHTON. 

I  was  a  stricken  deer,  that  left  the  herd 
Long  since.     With  many  an  arrow  deep  infix'd 
My  panting  side  was  charged,  when  I  withdrew 
To  seek  a  tranquil  death  in  distant  shades. 
There  was  I  found  by  one  who  had  himself 
Been  hunted  by  the  archers.     In  his  side  he  bore, 
And  in  his  hands  and  feet,  the  cruel  scars. 
With  gentle  force  soliciting  the  darts, 
He  drew  them  forth,  and  heal'd,  and  bade  me  live. 

COWPKE. 
8* 


90  MAY. 

10.  Cast  thy  burden  upon  the  Lord, 
and  he  shall  sustain  thee. 

Psalm  Iv.  22. 

He  that  taketh  his  own  cares  upon  himself  loads 
himself  in  vain  with  an  uneasy  burden.  The  fear 
of  what  may  come,  expectation  of  what  will  come, 
desire  of  what  will  not  come,  and  inability  of  re- 
dressing all  these,  must  needs  breed  in  him  continual 
torment.  I  will  cast  my  cares  upon  God :  he  hath 
bidden  me  :  they  cannot  harm  him ;  he  can  redress 
them. 

Still  on  the  Lord  thy  burden  roll, 

Nor  let  a  care  remain, 
His  mighty  arm  shall  bear  thy  soul 

And  all  thy  griefs  sustain. 


11.  And  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and 
.he  shall  give  you  another 
Comforter,  that  he  may  abide 
with  you  forever.  John  xiv.  16. 

What  a  word  for  a  sorrowing  world  !  The  Church 
militant  has  its  tent  pitched  in  a  "  valley  of  tears/' 
The  name  of  the  divine  visitant  who  comes  to  her 
and  ministers  to  her  wants  is — Comforter. 


M  A  Y.  91 

Our  blest  Redeemer,  ere  he  breathed 

His  last  farewell, 
A  guide — a  comforter — bequeathed 

With  us  to  dwell. 

He  comes,  his  graces  to  impart, 

A  willing  guest, 
While  he  can  find  one  humble  heart 

Wherein  to  rest. 

LTTE. 


12.  A  partaker  of  the  glory  that  shall 
be  revealed.  1  Pet.  v.  i. 

It  gives  an  edge  and  a  sweetness  to  Christian 
conference  to  be  speaking  of  Jesus  Christ  not  only 
as  a  King  and  a  Redeemer,  but  as  their  King  and 
their  Redeemer;  in  David's  style,  my  King,  and 
my  God, — to  be  speaking  of  the  glory  to  come  as 
their  inheritance,  that  of  which  they  are  partakers, — 
their  home;  as  strangers  meeting  together  abroad 
in  some  foreign  country  delight  to  speak  of  their 
own  land,  their  parentage  and  friends,  and  the  rich 
patrimony  there  abiding  them.  LEIGHTON. 

E'en  now  by  faith,  we  join  our  hands, 

With  those  that  went  before, 
And  greet  the  blood-besprinkled  bands 

On  the  eternal  shore. 


92  MAY. 

Our  spirits,  too,  shall  quickly  join, 
Like  their's  with  glory  crown' d, 

And  shout  to  see  our  Captain's  sign, 
To  hear  his  trumpet  sound. 

CHAKLES  WESLEY. 

13.  Ye  will  not  come  to  me,  that  ye 

might  have  life.        John  v.  40. 

The  gospel  seems  like  a  palace  full  of  opened 
windows,  from  each  of  which  he  issues  an  invitation 
declaring  that  he  has  no  pleasure  in  our  death, 
but  rather  that  we  would  turn  and  live. 

Come,  for  all  else  must  fail  and  die ; 

Earth  is  no  resting-place  for  thee; 
Heavenward  direct  thy  weeping  eye : 

I  am  thy  portion:  "Come  to  me." 

14.  Sufficient  unto  the  day  is  the 

evil  thereof.  Matt.  vi.  34. 

Grief  for  things  past  that  cannot  be  remedied, 
and  care  for  things  to  come  that  cannot  be  pre- 
vented, may  easily  hurt,  can  never  benefit  me. 

HALL. 

No  profit  canst  thou  gain 

By  self-consuming  care : 
To  him  commend  thy  cause ;  his  ear 

Attends  the  softest  prayer. 


MAY.  93 

15.  His  salvation  is  nigh  them  that 

fear  him.  Psalm  ixxxv.  9. 

Your  pardon  is  not  a  thing  far  away,  to  be  ob- 
tained only  by  hard  work  and  after  many  years. 
It  is  nigh  at  hand.  It  is  close  to  you,  within  your 
reach  all  ready  to  be  bestowed,  Believe,  and  that 
very  moment  it  is  your  own.  RYLE. 

Christ  is  ready  to  impart 
Life  to  all  for  life  who  sigh : 

In  thy  mouth  and  in  thy  heart 
The  word  is  ever  nigh. 

16.  Thou  hast  magnified  thy  word 

above  all  thy  name. 

Psalm  cxxxviii.  2. 

The  Bible  comes  to  us  claiming  to  have  been 
given  by  miraculous  inspiration  of  God.  There  is 
an  impregnable  external  testimony  encircling  it,  "  as 
the  mountains  are  round  about  Jerusalem ;"  and  on 
its  pages  the  finger  of  God  is  not  less  clearly  mani- 
fested than  on  the  starry  heavens.  PEARSON. 

In  vain  thy  creatures  testify  of  thee, 
Till  thou  proclaim  thyself.     Their's  is  indeed 
A  teaching  voice ;  but  'tis  the  praise  of  thine 
That  whom  it  teaches  it  makes  prompt  to  learn, 
And,  with  the  boon,  gives  talents  for  its  use. 

COWPBE. 


94  MAY. 

17.  She  shall  give  to  thine  head  an 
ornament  of  grace:  a  crown 
of  glory  shall  she  deliver  to 

Prov.  iv.  9. 


Grace  is  glory  in  the  seed;  glory  is  but  grace  full- 
blown. HOPKINS. 

The  men  of  grace  have  found 

Glory  begun  below  ; 
Celestial  fruit  on  earthly  ground 

From  faith  and  hope  may  grow. 

WATTS. 

18.  What  meanest  thou,  0  sleeper? 
Arise,  call  upon  thy  God. 

Jonah  i.  6. 

How  can  a  Christian  sleep  in  such  an  age  as 
our's,  —  when  life  grows  grander  every  year  by  the 
increasing  knowledge  and  extended  facilities  for 
achieving  great  results  for  God  and  humanity? 
Truly"  is  it  a  sin  against  Heaven  to  have  no  pulse 
that  beats  in  the  palpitations  of  an  age  that  tremble1' 
with  the  footsteps  of  an  advancing  God. 

Gracious  Redeemer,  shake 

This  slumber  from  my  soul  ! 
Say  to  me  now,  Awake,  awake  ! 

And  Christ  shall  make  thee  whole. 


MAY.  95 

Say  to  thy  mighty  hand, 

Alarm  me  in  this  hour, 
And  make  me  fully  understand 

The  thunder  of  thy  power. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 


19.  Fret  not  thyself  because  of  evil- 
doers, neither  be  thou  envious 
against  the  workers  of  iniquity. 
For  they  shall  soon  be  cut 
down  like  the  grass. 

Psalm  xxxvii.  1,  2. 

Who  could  envy  a  flower,  though  ever  so  gay  and 
beautiful  in  its  colours,  when  he  saw  that  the  next 
stroke  of  the  mower  would  sweep  it  away  forever  ? 

.  HOENE. 

They  flourish  like  the  morning  flower 

In  beauty's  pride  array'd, 
But  long  ere  night  cut  down  it  lies, 

All  wither'd  and  decay'd. 

BURNS. 


20.  Buy  the  truth,  and  sell  it  not. 

Prov.  xxiii.  23. 


96  MAY. 

Truth  now  must  be  sought,  and  that  with  care 
and  diligence  before  we  find  it.  Jewels  do  not  use 
to  lie  upon  the  surface  of  the  earth ;  highways  are 
seldom  paved  with  gold :  what  is  most  worth  our 
finding  calls  for  the  greatest  search. 

STILLINQFLEET. 

No  man  e'er  found  a  happy  life  by  chance, 
Or  yawn'd  it  into  being  with  a  wish. 

YOUNG. 

21.  Have  the  gates  of  death  been 
opened  unto  thee?  Or  hast 
thou  seen  the  doors  of  the 
shadow  of  death  ? 

Job  xxxviii.  17. 

A  peregrination  is  this  life ;  and  what  passenger 
is  so  besotted  with  the  pleasures  of  the  way  that  he 
forgets  the  place  whither  he  is  to  go  ?  How  earnest 
thou,  then,  to  forget  death,  whither  thou  travellest 
with  speed,  and  canst  not,  though  thou  desirest,  rest 
one  small  minute  by  the  way  ? 

JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

Death  is  the  crown  of  life : 

Were  death  denied,  poor  man  would  live  in  rain ; 
Were  death  denied,  to  live  would  not  be  life ; 
Were  death  denied,  e'en  fools  would  wish  to  die. 

YOUNG. 


MAY.  97 

22.  The  joy  of  the  Lord  is  your 
strength.  JNeh.  viii.  10. 

If  God  gives  internal  comfort,  it  is  not  that  we 
may  live  upon  it,  but  to  support  and  animate  us  to 
some  further  end.  ADAM. 


My  feet  shall  travel  all  the  length 

Of  the  celestial  road, 
And  march  with  courage  in  thy  strength 

To  see  my  Father,  God. 

WATTS. 


23.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee, 
Except  a  man  be  born  again, 
he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of 

John  iii.  3. 


Surely  they  that  are  not  born  again  shall  one 
day  wish  they  had  never  been  born. 

LEIQHTON. 

Oh,  change  these  wretched  hearts  of  our's, 

And  give  them  life  divine: 
Then  shall  our  passions  and  our  powers, 
Almighty  Lord,  be  thine. 

STKKLK. 
G  9 


98  MAY. 

24.  If  ye  loved  me,  ye  would  rejoice, 
because  I  said,  I  go  unto  the 
Father.  John  xiv.  28. 

God's  house  is  an  hospital  at  one  end  and  a 
palace  at  the  other.  In  the  hospital-end  are  Christ's 
members  upon  earth,  conflicting  with  various  dis- 
eases and  confined  to  a  strict  regimen  of  his  ap- 
pointing. What  sort  of  a  patient  must  he  be  who 
would  be  sorry  to  be  told  that  the  hour  is  come  for 
his  dismission  from  the  hospital,  and  to  see  the 
doors  thrown  wide  open  for  his  admission  into  the 
presence  ?  ADAM. 

Enthroned  is  Jesus  now 

Upon  his  heavenly  seat, 
The  kingly  crown  is  on  his  brow, 

The  saints  are  at  his  feet. 

JUDKIN. 


25.  It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I 
go  away :  for  if  I  go  not  away, 
the  Comforter  will  not  come 
unto  you;  but  if  I  depart,  I 
will  send  him  unto  you. 

John  xvi.  7. 


MAY.  99 

"  It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away."  How 
could  it  be  expedient  ?  Would  they  not  be  losers 
to  an  extent  which  no  man  could  reckon  ?  The 
light  of  his  countenance,  the  blessing  of  his  words, 
the  purity  of  his  presence,  the  influence  of  his  ex- 
ample,— all  to  be  removed;  and  this  expedient  for 
them !  ' 

Enthroned  on  high,  Almighty  Lord, 

The  Holy  Ghost  send  down : 
Fulfil  in  us  thy  faithful  word 

And  all  thy  mercies  crown. 

HTTMPHBIBS. 

26.  Praise  the  Lord  from  the  earth, 
ye  dragons,  and  all  deeps,  .  .  . 
mountains,  and  all  hills. 

Psalm  cxlviii.  7,  9. 

The  strength  and  glory  of  God's  mountains,  with 
their  soaring  and  radiant  pinnacles  and  surging 
sweeps  of  measureless  distance,  kingdoms  in  their 
valleys  and  climates  upon  their  crests. 

0  ye  deep  waters,  cataract  and  flood, 

What  worldless  triumph  did  your  voices  render ! 
0  mountain-summits,  where  the  angels  stood 

And  shook  from  head  and  wing  thick  dews  of 
splendour ! 

MBS.  BROWNING. 


100  MAY. 

27.  Beautiful  for  situation,  the  joy 
of  the  whole  earth,  is  mount 
Zion,  on  the  sides  of  the  north, 
the  city  of  the  great  King. 

Psalm  xlviii.  2. 

Jerusalem, — which,  in  the  history  of  the  past, 
towers  above  Greece  and  Rome,  because  of  that 
single  figure,  whose  beauty  it  is  the  highest  type 
of  art  to  realize, — whose  career  the  sublimest  strains 
of  literature  but  prophesy  and  record;  and  whose 
doctrine  it  is  the  noblest  strugggle  of  society  to 
realize. 

Thy  strength,  Jerusalem,  is  o'er, 

And  broken  are  thy  walls ; 
The  harp  of  Israel  sounds  no  more 

In  thy  deserted  halls : 
But  where  thy  kings  and  prophets  stood, 

Triumphant  over  death, 
Behold  the  living  soul  of  God, 

The  Christ  of  Nazareth ! 


28.  Having  a  desire  to  depart,  and 
to  be  with  Christ,  which  is  far 
better.  PHU.  i.  23. 


MAY.  101 

I  have  a  good  hope  and  a  great  desire  to  see 
what  they  are  doing  on  the  other  side ;  for  of  this 
world  I  am  heartily  weary.  LEIGHTON. 

I  long  to  behold  him  array'd 

With  glory  and  light  from  above, — 
The  King  in  his  beauty  display'd, — 

His  beauty  of  holiest  love : 
I  languish  and  sigh  to  be  there, 

Where  Jesus  hath  fix'd  his  abode : 
Oh,  when  shall  we  meet  in  the  air 

And  fly  to  the  mountain  of  God ! 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 


29.  For  they  have  healed  the  hurt 
of  the  daughter  of  my  people 
slightly,  saying,  Peace,  peace; 
when  there  is  no  peace. 

Jer.  viii.  11. 

Now,  a  false  tranquillity  is  more  terrible  than  the 
storms  of  a  troubled  spirit ;  for  those  who  hope  upon 
deceitful  grounds  are  in  the  most  hopeless  state, 
neglecting  what  is  requisite  in  order  to  salvation. 
Thus  innumerable  souls  pass,  in  a  cloud  of  delusion, 
to  the  kingdom  of  darkness.  BATES. 

9* 


102  MAY. 


In  Gilead  there  is  balm, 

A  kind  Physician  there, 
My  fever'd  mind  to  calm 

And  bid  me  not  despair : 
Aid  me,  dear  Saviour !  set  me  free  : 
My  all  I  would  resign  to  thee. 


30.  Forasmuch  as  ye  are  manifestly 
declared  to  be  the  epistle  of 
Christ  ministered  by  us,  writ- 
ten not  with  ink,  but  with  the 
Spirit  of  the  living  God;  not 
in  tables  of  stone,  but  in 
fleshy  tables  of  the  heart. 

2  dor.  iii.  3. 

Let  the  savour  of  your  religion,  like  Mary's 
precious  ointment,  fill  all  the  houses  where  you 
dwell.  Be  an  epistle  of  Christ, — so  clearly  written, 
penned  in  such  large,  bold  characters,  that  he  who 
runs  may  read  it.  RYLE. 

Oh,  let  our  love  and  faith  abound ! 
Oh,  let  our  lives  to  all  around 

With  purest  lustre  shine ! 
That  all  around  our  works  may  see, 
And  give  the  glory,  Lord,  to  thee, 

The  heavenly  light  divine. 


MAY.  103 

31.  What  man  knoweth  the  things 
of  a  man,  save  the  spirit  of 
man  which  is  in  him  ? 

1  Cor.  ii.  11. 

How  much  of  our  life  passes  in  our  walks,  in  our 
journeyings,  in  our  labours,  in  our  rest, — and  all  in 
the  depths  of  unbroken  silence  1  The  whole  of  no 
human  being's  life  is  known  to  another,  possessed 
by  another,  though  that  other  be  in  the  closest  and 
most  constant  communion  with  his  life.  And  then 
Death !  Death,  always  in  shadow,  always  in  silence, 
always  absolute  in  isolation !  GILES. 

Alone  with  thee  in  that  dread  strife, 
Uphold  me  through  mine  agony, 

And  gently  be  this  dying  life 
Exchanged  for  immortality. 

MONTGOMERY. 


JUNE. 

1.  PARTAKERS  of  the  inheritance  of 
the  saints  in  light,     cw.-  i.  12. 

There  is  a  saying  recorded  in  Plutarch  of  a  rich 
Roman;  Croesus,  that  he  did  not  think  that  man 
rich  that  knew  all  that  he  had.  Truly,  in  this  man's 
account,  a  Christian  is  truly  rich :  he  hath  laid  up 
more  treasure  than  himself  knows  of.  But  though 
a  Christian  knows  not  how  much  he  hath,  yet  he 
shall  lose  none :  it  is  safe,  being  laid  up  in  heaven ; 
every  star  is  -as  a  seal  set  upon  the  treasure-door, 
that  none  may  break  in  and  violate  it. 

HOPKINS. 

There  is  my  house  and  portion  fair ; 
My  treasure  and  my  heart  are  there, 

And  my  abiding  home : 
For  me  my  elder  brethren  stay, 
And  angels  beckon  me  away, 
And  Jesus  bids  me  come. 

JOHN  WESLKT. 
104 


JUNE.  105 

2.  If  thou  be  the  Christ,  tell  us 

plainly.  Jesus  answered  them, 
I  told  you,  and  ye  believed 
not:  the  works  that  I  do  in 
my  Father's  name,  they  bear 
witness  of  me.  John  x.  24, 25. 

I  know  men,  and  I  tell  you  that  Jesus  is  not  a 
man.  The  religion  of  Christ  is  a  mystery,  which 
subsists  by  its  own  force,  and  proceeds  from  a  mind 
which  is  not  a  human  mind.  Jesus  is  not  a  philo- 
sopher; for  his  proofs  are  miracles,  and  from  the 
first  his  disciples  adored  him.  Alexander,  Caesar, 
Charlemagne,  and  myself  founded  empires ;  but  on 
what  foundations  did  we  rest  the  creations  of  our 
genius  ?  Upon  force.  Jesus  Christ  founded  an  em- 
pire upon  love;  and  at  this  hour  millions  of  men 
would  die  for  him.  NAPOLEON  BUONAPARTE. 

The  Christ  by  raptured  seers  foretold, 
Fill'd  with  the  Holy  Spirit's  power, 

Prophet  and  priest  and  king  behold, 
And  Lord  of  all  the  world  adore. 

3.  They  regard  not  the  works  of  the 

Lord,  nor  the  operation  of  his 

hands.  Psalm  xxviii.  5. 


106  JUNE. 

It  is  unfortunate,  I  have  thought  within  these 
few  minutes,  while  looking  out  on  one  of  the  most 
enchanting  nights  of  the  most  interesting  season  of 
the  year,  and  hearing  the  voices  of  a  company  of 
persons,  to  whom  I  can  perceive  that  this  soft  and 
solemn  shade  over  the  earth,  the  calm  sky,  the 
beautiful  stripes  of  cloud,  the  stars,  and  the  waning 
moon  just  risen,  are  things  not  in  the  least  more 
interesting  than  the  walls,  ceiling  and  candlelight 
of  a  room.  JOHN  FOSTER. 

Acquaint  thyself  with  God,  if  thou  wouldst  taste 
Hia  works.     Admitted  once  to  his  embrace, 
Thou  shalt  perceive  that  thon  wast  blind  before, 
Thine  eye  shall  be  instructed,  and  thine  heart, 
Made  pure,  shall  relish  with  divine  delight, 
Till  then  unfelt,  what  hands  divine  have  wrought. 

COWPKE. 


4.  Are  not  my  days  few  ? 

Job  x.  20. 

Remembrance  can  with  one  glance  review  what 
is  past ;  and  why  should  hope  and  expectation  look 
upon  what  is  to  come  as  boundless  and  infinite? 
Surely  both  hemispheres  of  our  lives  have  equal 
horizons ;  and  we  shall  find  that  our  past  and  future 
years  have  but  just  the  same  measure. 

HOPKINS. 


JUNE.  107 

Our  days  run  thoughtlessly  along, 

Without  a  moment's  stay : 
Just  like  a  story  or  a  song 

We  pass  our  lives  away. 

WATTS. 


5.  Behold,  them  hast  made  my  days 
as  a  handbreadth. 

Psalm  xxxix.  5. 

Consider  that  thy  life  takes  up  a  very  small  and 
inconsiderable  part  of  time.  It  is  but  a  little  pattern 
cut  thee  off  from  the  great  piece. 

HOPKINS. 

That  solar  shadow,  as  it  measures  life, 

It  life  resembles  too.    Life  speeds  away 

From  point  to  point,  though  seeming  to  stand  still. 

'Tis  later  with  the  wise  than  he's  aware: 

Fresh  hopes  are  hourly  sown 

In  furrow'd  brows.     To  gentle  life's  descent 
We  shut  our  eyes,  and  think  it  is  a  plain. 

YOUNG. 


6.  Forgetting   those   things   which 
are  behind.       pMUppwns  Hi.  is. 

Forget  mistakes ;  organize  victory  out  of  mistakes. 
Do  not  stop  too  long  to  weep  over  spilt  water.    For- 


108  JUNE. 

get  your  guilt  (but  not  your  Saviour,)  and  wait  to 
see  what  eternity  has  to  say  to  it.  You  have  other 
work  to  do  now. 

Not  backward  are  our  glances  bent, 
But  onward  to  our  Father's  home. 

7.  But  the  day  of  the  Lord  will 
come  as  a  thief  in  the  night ; 
in  the  which  the  heavens  shall 
pass  away  with  a  great  noise, 
and  the  elements  shall  melt 
with  fervent  heat:  the  earth 
also  and  the  works  that  are 
therein  shall  be  burned  up. 

2  Peter  iii.  10. 

By  God's  word  the  world  is  doomed.  There  are 
no  signs  of  ruin  yet.  We  tread  upon  it  like  a  solid 
thing  fortified  by  its  adamantine  hills  forever. 
There  is  nothing  against  that  but  a  few  words  in  a 
printed  book.  But  the  world  is  mined;  and  just  at 
the  moment  when  serenity  is  at  its  height,  the 
heavens  shall  pass  away  with  a  great  noise,  and  the 
elements  melt  with  fervent  heat,  and  the  feet  of  the 
Avenger  shall  stand  upon  the  earth. 

ROBERTSON. 


JUNE.  109 

All  things  that  are  on  earth  shall  wholly  pass  away, 
Except  the  love  of  God,  which  shall  live  and  last  for  aye ; 
And  the  great  globe  itself,  (so  the  Holy  Scriptures  tell,) 
With  the  rolling  firmament  where  the  starry  armies  dwell, 
Shall  melt  with  fervent  heat :  they  all  shall  pass  away, 
Except  the  love  of  God,  which  shall  live  and  last  for  aye. 

BRYANT. 

8.  Now,  faith  is  the  substance  of 

things  hoped  for,  the  evidence 
of  things  not  seen.    ffei.  xi.  i. 

A  strong  faith  can  recall  things  that  are  long 
passed,  and  make  them  exist  again :  sa  that  time 
devours  nothing,  but  to  an  ignorant  person  or  an 
unbeliever.  And  truly,  unless  faith  do  thus  recall 
the  sufferings  of  Christ,  not  to  our  memories  only, 
but  to  our  hearts  and  affections,  they  will  all  appear  to 
us  but  as  a  story  of  somewhat  done  long  ago,  and  as 
an  outworn,  antiquated  thing.  HOPKINS. 

Faith  builds  a  hedge  from  this  world  to  the  next, 
O'er  death's  dark  gulf,  and  all  its  horror  hides. 

YOCNQ. 

9.  Through    faith    we    understand 

that  the  worlds  were  framed 
by  the  word  of  God.  ffeb.  xi.  3. 

10 


110  JUNE. 

Scripture  has  not  spoken  with  an  articulate  voice 
of  the  future  locality  of  the  blest;  but  Reason  has 
combined  the  scattered  utterances  of  inspiration, 
and,  with  a  voice  almost  oracular,  has  declared  that 
He  who  made  the  worlds  will,  in  the  worlds  which 
he  has  made,  place  the  beings  of  his  choice. 

SIR  DAVID  BREWSTER. 

What  arm  almighty  put  these  wheeling  globes 

In  motion,  and  wound  up  the  vast  machine  ? 

Who  rounded  in  his  palm  these  spacious  orbs  ? 

Who  bowled  them  flaming  through  the  dark  profound, 

Numerous  as  glittering  gems  of  morning  dew? 

Who  marshals  this  bright  host,  enrolls  their  names, 

Appoints  their  post,  their  marches  and  returns 

Punctual  at  stated  periods  ?    He  whose  word 

Like  the  loud  trumpet  levied  first  their  powers 

In  night's  inglorious  empire,  where  they  slept 

In  beds  of  darkness,  arm'd  them  with  fierce  flames, 

Arranged,  and  disciplined,  and  clothed  in  gold. 

YOUNG. 


10.  Before  I  was   afflicted,  I  went 
astray:  but  now  have  I  kept 

thy  WOrd.  Psalm  cxix.  67. 

Christians  are   like  clocks:  the  more  weight  is 
hung  upon  them,  the  faster  they  go. 

HOPKINS. 


JUNE.  Ill 

Then,  with  my  waking  thoughts 

Bright  with  thy  praise, 
Out  of  my  stormy  griefs 

Bethel  I'll  raise, — 
So  by  my  woes  to  be 
Nearer,  my  God,  to  thee, — 

Nearer  to  thee! 

ADAMS. 


11.  Provide  yourselves  bags  which 
wax  not  old,  a  treasure  in  the 
heavens  that  faileth  not. 

Luke  xii.  33. 

This  is  to  lay  up  treasure  in  heaven,  to  remit  thy 
moneys  to  the  other  world,  where  they  shall  be 
truly  paid  thee  with  abundant  interest.  This  is  to 
lay  up  a  stock  for  hereafter,  that  thou  mayest  have 
whereon  to  live  splendidly  and  gloriously  to  all 
eternity. 

Go,  clothe  the  naked,  lead  the  blind, 

Give  to  the  weary  rest, 
For  sorrow's  children  comfort  find 

And  help  for  all  distress'd ; 
But  give  to  Christ  alone  thy  heart, 

Thy  faith,  thy  love,  supreme : 
Then  for  his  sake  thine  alms  impart, 

And,  so,  give  all  to  him. 


112  JUNE. 

12.  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me 
in  Paradise.          Luke  xxm.  43. 

In  whatever  soil  this  word  [Paradise]  struck  root, 
it  always  had  a  sound  of  encouragement  and  delight. 
Flowers  and  fresh  airs  breathe  in  it.  It  occurs  three 
times  in  the  New  Testament, — in  our  Lord's  promise 
to  the  robber,  in  St.  Paul's  vision,  and  in  St.  John's 
Revelation ;  and  in  each  case  it  evidently  represents 
a  place  beyond  the  stir  and  the  troubles  of  the 
world,  sheltered  by  God's  particular  love  and  in- 
habited by  beings  who  enjoy  his  favour. 

WILMOTT. 

An  Eden  this !  a  Paradise  unlost ! 
Oh  that  I  could  but  reach  the  tree  of  life ! 
For  here  it  grows  unguarded  from  our  taste : 
No  flaming  sword  denies  our  entrance  here. 

YOUNG. 


13.  Exceeding  great  and  precious 

promises.  2  Peter  i.  4. 

Every  promise  is  a  ticket  given  us  by  God  to 
take  up  mansions  of  treasure  in  heaven ;  it  is  vocal 
glory  j  it  is  happiness  in  words  and  syllables ;  it  is 
eternity  couched  in  a  sentence. 


JUNE.  113 

I 

Still  sure  to  me  thy  promise  stands, 

And  ever  must  abide : 
Behold  it  written  on  thy  hands 

And  graven  in  thy  side. 

MONTGOMERY. 


14.  That  ye  may  know  what  is  the 
hope  of  his  calling,  and  what 
the  riches  of  the  glory  of  his 
inheritance  in  the  saints. 

Eph.  i.  18. 

The  long-wished-for  day  has  come  at  last,  when 
I  shall  see  that  glory  in  another  manner  than  I 
have  ever  done,  or  was  capable  of  doing,  in  this 
world.  OWEN. 

How  welcome  those  untrodden  spheres ! 

How  sweet  this  very  hour  to  die, 
To  soar  from  earth  and  find  all  fears 

Lost  in  thy  light,  Eternity ! 

Oh,  in  that  future  let  us  think 

To  hold  each  heart  the  heart  that  shares, 

With  them  the  immortal  waters  drink, 

And  soul  in  soul  grow  deathless  theirs ! 
H  10« 


114  JUNE. 

15.  Now,  no  chastening  for  the  pre- 

sent seemeth  to  be  joyous,  but 
grievous:  nevertheless,  after- 
ward it  yieldeth  the  peaceable 
fruit  of  righteousness  unto  them 
which  are  exercised  thereby. 

Heb.  xii.  11. 

As  spices  send  forth  their  most  fragrant  scents 
when  they  are  most  bruised,  so  are  the  graces  of 
God's  people  more  sweet  and  redolent  when  they 
are  crushed  and  bruised  under  the  pressure  of  heavy 
affliction.  HOPKINS. 

So  will  I  bless  the  hour  that  sent 

The  mercy  of  the  rod, 
And  build  an  altar  by  the  tent 

Where  I  have  met  with  God. 

J.  B. 

16.  The  Lord  shall  count  when  he 

writeth  up  the  people,  that 
this  man  was  born  there. 

Psalm  Ixxxvii.  6. 

God's  hand  is  continually  turning  over  our  days 
and  years,  like  the  leaves  of  a  book  :  there  is  some- 


JUNE.  115 

thing  written  in  every  one  of  them :  the  last  is 
coming ;  and  that,  like  the  index  or  table,  must  give 
account  of  all  the  rest.  HOPKINS. 

On  human  hearts  he  bends  a  jealous  eye, 
And  marks  and  in  heaven's  register  enrolls 
The  rise  and  progress  of  each  option  there, 
Sacred  to  doomsday !     That  the  page  unfolds 
And  spreads  as  to  the  gaze  of  gods  and  men. 

YOUNO. 

17.  Job  sent  and  sanctified  them, 
and  rose  up  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  offered  burnt-offerings 
according  to  the  number  of 
them  all.  Job  \.  5. 

The  new  immortal  that  has  fallen  down  into  the 
midst  of  the  Christian  family  is  to  be  taken  into  the 
soul  of  its  piety,  to  be  sanctified  by  its  prayer  and 
faith,  and  to  form  a  part  of  that  reasonable  and 
acceptable  offering  in  which,  morning  and  evening, 
the  godly  parents  lay  all  that  they  are,  and  all  that 
they  have,  on  the  altar  of  sacrifice. 

Jesus  the  ancient  faith  confirms, 

To  our  great  father  given  : 
He  takes  our  children  in  his  arms 

And  calls  them  heirs  of  heaven. 

WATTS. 


116  JUNE. 

18.  Others  were  tortured,  not  ac- 
cepting deliverance:  that  they 
might  obtain  a  better  resur- 
rection. Heb.  xi.  35. 

A  Christian,  being  injured  and  tormented  by  the 
heathens  and  afterwards  cast  into  prison,  being 
asked  by  some  one  what  miracles  Christ  had  ever 
wrought,  answered  him,  "  The  same  that  you  now 
see, — that,  though  I  have  been  thus  ill  handled  by 
you,  I  am  not  moved  with  it." 

How  beautiful  falls 

From  human  lips  that  blessed  word, — forgive  ! 
Thrice  happy  he  whose  heart  has  been  so  school'd 
In  the  meek  lessons  of  humanity 
That  he  can  give  it  utterance :  it  imparts 
Celestial  grandeur  to  the  human  soul 
And  maketh  man  an  angel. 


19.  Turn  ye,  turn  ye  from  your  evil 
ways ;  for  why  will  ye  die,  0 
house  of  Israel  ?  Ezek.  xxxiu.  11. 

Vain  men  !  death  is  at  your  heels,  and  at  its  heels 
are  judgment  and  eternity.  Is  it  time  for  you  to  mind 
every  trifle  of  this  life — how  to  make  a  compliment 


JUNE.  117 

or  a  visit — when  you  are  just  splitting  against  the 
Rock  of  ages  and  plunging  into  the  lake  of  fire  ? 

Time  flies,  death  urges,  knells  call,  heaven  invites, 

Hell  threatens :  all  exerts,  in  effort  all ; — 

Man  sleeps, — and  man  alone ;  and  man,  whose  fate, 

Fate  irreversible,  entire,  extreme, 

Endless,  hair-hung,  breeze-shaken,  o'er  the  gulf 

A  moment  trembles,  drops ! 

YOUNG. 


20.  And  thou  shalt  make  a  plate  of 
pure  gold,  and  grave  upon  it, 
like  the  engravings  of  a  signet, 
HOLINESS  TO  THE  LORD. 

Exodus  xxviii.  36. 

Morning  has  risen  into  day.  Are  we  children  of 
that  day  ?  For  form  we  have  spirit ;  for  Gerizim 
and  Zion,  our  common  scenery.  The  ministry  of 
Aaron  is  ended.  His  ephod,  with  its  gold  and  blue 
and  scarlet  and  fine  twined  linen  and  cunning 
work,  has  faded  and  dropped.  The  breastplate  of 
judgment  has  been  crushed  and  lost.  The  pome- 
granates are  cast  aside  like  untimely  fruit.  The 
golden  bells  are  silent.  Even  the  mitre,  with  its 


118  JUNE. 

sacred  signet,  and  the  grace  of  the  fashion  of  it,  has 
perished.  All  the  outward  glory  and  beauty  of 
that  Hebrew  worship  has  vanished  into  the  eternal 
splendours  of  the  gospel  and  been  fulfilled  in 
Christ.  HUNTINGTON. 

"Tig  finish'd !  Aaron  now  no  more 
Must  stain  his  robes  with  purple  gore ; 
The  sacred  veil  is  rent  in  twain, 
And  Jewish  rites  no  more  remain. 


21.  To  him   that    knoweth   to   do 
good  and  doeth  it  not,  to  him 

it  is  Sin.  James  iv.  17. 

It  was  a  first  command  and  counsel  of  my  earliest 
youth  always  to  do  what  my  conscience  told  me  to 
be  a  duty,  and  to  leave  the  consequence  to  God.  I 
shall  carry  with  me  the  memory  and,  I  trust,  the 
practice  of  this  paternal  lesson  to  the  grave. 

LORD  ERSKINE. 

Ready  for  all  thy  perfect  will, 
My  acts  of  faith  and  love  repeat, 

Till  death  thy  endless  mercies  seal 
And  make  the  sacrifice  complete. 

CHAKLES  WESLEY. 


JUNE.  119 

22.  We  brought  nothing  into  this 
world,  and  it  is  certain  we 
can  carry  nothing  out. 

1  Tim.  vi.  7. 

Truly  it  is  a  long  journey  into  the  other  world; 
and  gold  and  silver  and  earthly  treasure  are  too 
heavy  a  portage  to  be  carried  with  you  thither. 

HOPKINS. 

Vain  his  ambition,  noise  and  show; 

Vain  are  the  cares  which  rack  his  mind: 
He  heaps  up  treasures  mixed  with  woe, 

And  dies,  and  leaves  them  all  behind. 

STEELE. 


23.  For  I  determined  not  to  know 
any  thing  among  you  save 
Jesus  Christ  and  him  cruci- 
fied. 1  Cor.  ii.  2. 

Over  the  wide  field  of  divine  truth  it  behooves 
the  Christian  teacher  to  conduct  his  disciples  and 
to  make  them  acquainted  with  every  flower  and  tree 
that  grows  on  its  surface  :  but  all  his  lessons  should 
be  given  from  under  the  shadow  of  the  cross ;  and, 


120  JUNE. 

on  whatever  subject  he  touches,  there  should  be  a 
constant  reference  to  this  as  the  tree  of  life,  whose 
leaves  are  for  the  healing  of  the  nations. 

THOMAS  PEARSON. 

One  Spirit — His 

Who  wore  the  plaited  thorns  with  bleeding  brow — 
Rules  universal  nature. 

COWPER. 

24.  Sow  to  yourselves  in  righteous- 

ness. Hosea  x.  12. 

The  seeds  of  those  spiritual  joys  and  raptures 
which  are  to  rise  up  and  flourish  in  the  soul  to  all 
eternity  must  be  planted  in  her  during  this  her 
present  state  of  probation.  Heaven  is  not  to  be 
looked  upon  only  as  the  reward,  but  as  the  natural 
effect,  of  a  religious  life.  ADDISON. 

Thou  canst  not  toil  in  vain  : 
Cold,  heat,  and  moist  and  dry, 

Shall  foster  and  mature  the  grain 
For  garners  in  the  sky. 

MONTGOMERY. 

25.  Kighteousness  and  peace  have 

kissed  each  other. 

Psalm  Ixxxv.  10. 


JUNE.  121 

The  very  name  of  peace  is  sweet  and  lovely :  it  is 
the  calm  of  the  world,  the  smile  of  nature,  the 
harmony  of  all  things,  a  gentle  and  melodious  air 
struck  from  well-tuned  affairs, — a  blessing  so  excel- 
lent and  amiable  that  in  this  world  there  is  but  one 
preferable  before  it,  and  that  is  holiness. 

HOPKINS. 

Might  but  a  little  part, 

A  wandering  breath,  of  that  high  melody 
Descend  into  my  heart 

And  change  it  till  it  be 
Transform'd  and  swallow'd  up  of  lore  in  thee ! 

Ah,  then  my  soul  should  know, 

Beloved,  where  thou  liest  at  noon  of  day, 
And,  from  this  place  of  woe 

Released,  should  take  its  way 
To  mingle  with  thy  flock,  and  never  stray. 

Luis  DK  LEON. 


26.  It  is  required  in  stewards  that 
a  man  be  found  faithful. 

1  Cor.  iv.  2. 

It  is  a  most  responsible  function,  that  of  acting  as 
God's  almoner  in  this  populous,  perishing,  poverty- 
stricken  world.  OWN. 
11 


122  JUNE. 


Father,  into  thy  hands  alone 
I  have  my  all  restored : 

My  all  thy  property  I  own, — 
The  steward  of  the  Lord. 


27.  The  just  shall  live  by  faith. 

Hebrews  x.  38. 

The  heart's  matchless  telescope  is  simple,  child- 
like faith;  and  every  spot  of  common  life  where 
Providence  plants  our  feet  is  an  observatory — if  we 
will  but  stand  on  it  looking  upward,  devoutly  up- 
ward— lofty  enough  for  the  whole  sweep  of  that 
commanding  heaven.  HUNTINGDON. 

The  want  of  sight  she  well  supplies ; 

She  makes  the  pearly  gates  appear; 
Far  into  distant  worlds  she  pries 

And  brings  eternal  glories  near. 

WATTS. 


28.  Gather  up  the  fragments   that 
remain,  that  nothing  be  lost. 

John  vi.  12. 

You  have  heard  of  the  Turkish  piety  that  will 
carefully  put  aside  all  fragments  of  paper,  lest  the 
name  of  God  written  on  them  by  chance  should  be 


JUNE.  123 

trodden  on  and  profaned.  Christian  reverence  will 
gather  up  the  scraps  of  time  and  opportunity,  be- 
cause on  them  all  is  certainly  stamped  the  law  of 
religious  accountability.  HUNTINGDON. 

What  moment's  granted  man  without  account  ? 

Moments  seize: 

Heaven's  on  their  wing :  a  moment  we  may  wish 
When  worlds  want  wealth  to  buy. 

YOUNG. 

29.  And  all  the  people  said,  Amen, 

and  praised  the  Lord. 

1  Chron.  xvi.  36. 

Saint  Jerome  tells  us  it  was  the  custom  in  his 
days  to  close  up  every  prayer  with  such  an  unani- 
mous consent  that  their  Amens  rung  and  echoed  in 
the  church,  and  sounded  like  the  fall  of  waters,  or 
the  noise  of  thunder. 

There  is  a  joy  which  angels  well  may  prize, — 
To  see  and  hear  and  aid  God's  worship  when 
Unnumber'd  tongues,  a  host  of  Christian  men, 

Youths,  maidens,  matrons,  join.    Their  sounds  arise, 

"Like  many  waters," — now  glad  symphonies 
Of  thanks  and  glory  to  our  God,  and  then — 
Seal  of  the  social  prayer — the  loud  Amen, 

Faith's  common  pledge,  contrition's  mingled  cries. 

MANT. 

30.  Whoso  is  wise,  and  will  observe 


124  JUNE. 

these  things,  even  they  shall 
understand  the  loving-kind- 
ness Of  the  Lord.  Psalm  cvii.  43. 

Thus  familiar  with  the  great  works  of  creation, — 
thus  seeing  them  through  the  heart  as  well  as 
through  the  eye, — the  young  will  look  to  the  future 
with  a  keener  glance  and  with  brighter  hopes; 
the  weary  and  heavy-laden  will  rejoice  in  the  vision 
of  their  place  of  rest;  the  philosopher  will  scan  with 
a  new  sense  the  lofty  spheres  in  which  he  is  to 
study;  and  the  Christian  will  recognise  in  the 
eternal  abodes  the  joyous  temples  in  which  he  is  to 
offer  his  sacrifices  of  praise. 

SIR  DAVID  BREWSTEB. 

To  these  the  Sire  Omnipotent  unfolds 
The  world's  harmonious  volume,  there  to  read 
The  transcript  of  himself.     On  every  part 
They  trace  the  bright  impressions  of  his  hand. 

The  high-born  soul 

Disdains  to  rest  her  heaven-aspiring  wing 
Beneath  its  native  quarry.     Tired  of  earth 
And  this  diurnal  scene,  she  springs  aloft 
Through  fields  of  air.     Now,  amazed,  she  views 
The  empyreal  waste,  where  happy  spirits  hold, 
Beyond  this  concave  heaven,  their  calm  abode ; 
And  fields  of  radiance,  whose  unfading  light 
Has  travell'd  the  profound  six  thousand  years 
Nor  yet  arrives  in  sight  of  mortal  things. 

AKEUSIDK. 


JULY. 

1.  ENTER  not  into  the  path  of  the 
wicked,  and  go  not  in  the  way 
of  evil  men.  Prov.  iv.  14. 

Sir  Peter  Lely  made  it  a  rule  never  to  look  at  a 
bad  picture, — having  found  by  experience  that,  when- 
ever he  did  so,  his  pencil  took  a  tint  from  it.  Apply 
this  to  bad  books  and  bad  company.  HORNE. 

That  man,  in  life  wherever  placed, 

Has  happiness  in  store, 
Who  walks  not  in  the  wicked's  way 

Nor  learns  their  guilty  lore. 

WATTS. 

'I.  And  the  Lord  God  planted  a 
garden  eastward,  in  Eden; 
and  there  he  put  the  man 
whom  he  had  formed. 

Gen.  ii.  8. 
11*  125 


126  JULY. 

There  was  not  then  so  vast  a  difference  between 
the  angelical  and  human  life :  the  angels  and  men 
both  fed  on  the  same  dainties :  all  the  difference 
was,  they  were  in  the  upper  room,  in  heaven,  and 
man  in  the  summer  parlour,  in  paradise. 

STILLINGFLEET. 


Are  ye  forever  to  your  skies  departed  ? 

Oh,  will  ye  visit  this  dim  world  no  more, — 
Ye,  whose  bright  wings  a  solemn  splendour  darted 

Through  Eden's  fresh  and  flowering  shades  of  yore  ? 


But  may  ye  not,  unseen,  around  us  hover, 

With  gentle  promptings  and  sweet  influence,  yet, — 

Though  the  fresh  glory  of  those  days  be  over 
When,  midst  the  palm-trees,  man  your  footsteps  met? 

MRS.  HKMANS. 


And  the  door  was  shut. 

Matt.  xxv.  10. 
Never  to  be  opened !  ADAM. 


The  day  of  wrath, — that  dreadful  day, 
When  heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away ! 
What  power  shall  be  the  sinner's  stay  ? 
How  shall  he  meet  that  dreadful  day  ? 


JULY.  127 

4.  Sing  praises  unto  our  God;  for 
it  is  pleasant,  and  praise  is 

COmely.  Psalm  cxlvii.  1. 

Every  furrow  in  the  book  of  Psalms  is  sown  with 
such  seeds.  I  know  nothing  more  certain,"  more 
constant  to  expel  the  sadness  of  the  world,  than  to 
sound  out  the  praises  of  the  Lord  as  with  a  trumpet; 
and,  when  the  heart  is  cast  down,  it  will  make  it 
rebound  from  earth  to  heaven. 

JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

Oh,  may  I  breathe  no  longer  than  I  breathe 
My  soul  in  praise  to  Him  who  gave  my  soul 
And  all  her  infinite  of  prospect  fair. 

YOUNG. 


5.  A  prudent  man  foreseeth  the  evil, 
and  hideth  himself;  but  the 
simple  pass  on,  and  are  pun- 
ished. Prov.  xxii.  3. 

Hell  is  truth  seen  too  late.  ADAM. 

The  keen  vibration  of  bright  truth — is  Hell ; 
Men  may  live  fools,  but  fools  they  cannot  die. 

YOUNG. 


128  JULY. 

6.  The  wind  bloweth  where  it  list- 
eth,  and  thou  hearest  the 
sound  thereof,  but  canst  not 
tell  whence  it  cometh,  and 
whither  it  goeth :  so  is  every 
one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit. 

John  iii.  8. 

He  can  stretch  and  expand  thy  straitened 
heart,  can  hoist  and  spread  the  sails  within  thee, 
and  then  carry  thee  on  swiftly,  filling  them,  not 
with  the  vain  air  of  man's  applause,  which  readily 
runs  a  soul  upon  rocks  and  splits  it,  but  with  the 
sweet  breathings  and  soft  gales  of  his  own  Spirit, 
which  carry  it  straight  to  the  desired  haven. 

LEIGHTON. 

If  eyery  one  that  asks  may  find, — 
If  still  thou  dost  on  sinners  fall, — 

Come,  as  a  mighty,  rushing  wind  ; 
Great  grace  be  now  upon  us  all ! 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 


7.  Is  this  your  joyous  city,  whose 
antiquity  is  of  ancient  days  ? 

Isaiah  xxiii.  7. 


JULY.  129 

Pyramids,  arches,  obelisks,  were  but  the  irregu- 
larities of  vain-glory  and  wild  enormities  of  ancient 
magnanimity.  But  the  most  magnanimous  resolu 
tion  rests  in  the  Christian  religion,  which  trampleth 
upon  pride,  and  sits  on  the  neck  of  ambition,  humbly 
pursuing  that  infallible  perpetuity  unto  which  all 
others  must  diminish  their  diameters  and  be  poorly 
seen  in  angles  of  contingency. 

SIR  THOMAS  BROWNE. 

Empires  die :  Where  now 

The  Roman  ?  Greek  ?   They  stalk,  an  empty  name ! 
0  Death !  I  stretch  my  view :  what  visions  rise ! 
What  triumphs !  toils  imperial !  arts  divine ! 
In  wither d  laurels  glide  before  my  sight! 
What  lengths  of  far-famed  ages,  billow'd  high 
With  human  agitation,  roll  along 
In  unsubstantial  images  of  air ! 

YOUNG. 


8.  Her  ways  are  ways  of  pleasant- 
ness, and  all  her  paths  are 

peace.  Prov.  iii.  17. 

Keligion  gives  birth  to  hope,  it  cherishes  joy,  it 
nourishes  great  thoughts,  it  produces  enchanting 
desires,  it  colours  the  earth  over  with  the  gay  light 
of  heaven,  and  makes  the  ways  of  every  man  the 

I 


130  JULY. 

ways  of  pleasantness,  and  his  paths  the  paths  of 
peace.  SYDNEY  SMITH. 

Though  nature  shakes,  how  soft  to  lean  on  heaven, 
To  lean  on  Him  on  whom  archangels  lean ! 
With  inward  eyes,  and  silent  as  the  grave, 
They  stand,  collecting  every  beam  of  thought, 
Till  their  hearts  kindle  with  divine  delight ; 
For  all  their  thoughts,  like  angels  seen  of  old 
In  Israel's  dream,  come  from  and  go  to  heaven. 

YOUNG. 

9.  Thy  will  be  done  in  earth,  as  it 

is  in  heaven.  Matt.  vi.  10. 

Man  (a  minister  of  Christ,  in  particular)  should 
resemble  angels  in  reconciling  duty  with  devotion. 
They  minister  to  the  heirs  of  salvation,  yet  always 
behold  the  face  of  their  Father  in  heaven. 

HORNE. 
I  ask  in  confidence  the  grace 

That  I  may  do  thy  will, 
As  angels  who  behold  thy  face, 
And  all  thy  words  fulfil. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 

10.  God  hath  made  man  upright; 

but    they    have    sought    ou£ 
many  inventions.    Ecd.  vii.  29. 


JULY.  131 

God  created  the  soul  of  man  not  only  capable  of 
finding  out  the  truth  of  things,  but  furnished  him 
with  a  sufficient  touchstone  to  discover  truth  from 
falsehood,  by  a  light  set  up  in  his  understanding, 
which  if  he  had  attended  to  he  might  have  secured 
himself  from  all  impostures  and  deceits. 

STILLINGFLEET. 


In  early  days  the  conscience  has  in  most 

A  quickness,  which  in  later  life  is  lost, 

Preserved  from  guilt  by  salutary  fears, 

Or,  guilty,  soon  relenting  into  tears, 

That,  taught  of  God,  they  may  indeed  be  wise, 

Nor,  ignorantly  wandering,  miss  the  skies. 

COWPER. 


11.  What  man  is  he  that  liveth,  and 
shall  not  see  death  ? 

Psalm  Ixxxix.  48. 

The  way  of  this  life  is  not  voluntary,  like  that  of 
travellers,  but  necessary,  like  that  of  condemned 
persons  from  the  prison  unto  the  place  of  execu- 
tion. To  death  thou  standest  condemned,  whither 
thou  art  now  going  :  how  canst  thou  laugh  ? 

JEREMY  TAYLOR. 


132  JULY. 

Oh,  then,  ere  the  turf  or  tomb 

Cover  us  from  every  eye, 
Spirit  of  instruction,  come, 

Make  us  learn  that  we  must  die ! 

COWPER. 

12.  And  who  is  he  that  will  harm 

you,  if  ye  be  followers  of  that 

Which  is  gOOd  ?        1  Peter  in.  13. 

If  we  were  at  peace  within,  external  things  would 
have  but  little  power  to  hurt  us.  ADAM. 

His  hand  the  good  man  fastens  on  the  skies, 
And  bids  earth  roll,  nor  feels  her  idle  whirl. 

YOUNO. 

13.  For    they  have    refreshed    my 

spirit  and  your's.  1  GOT.  xvi.  18. 

The  unconscious  influence  of  a  Christian  man  is 
the  power  that  shapes  society  most  rapidly,  and  tella 
most  powerfully,  and  leaves  behind  it  the  most 
enduring,  beneficent  impressions.  GUMMING. 

Though  time  will  wear  us,  and  we  must  grow  old, 
Such  men  are  not  forgot  as  soon  as  cold: 
Their  fragrant  memory  will  outlast  their  tomb, 
Embalm' d  forever  in  its  own  perfume. 

COWPEB. 


JULY.  133 

14.  Who  is  this  that  cometh  out  of 
the  wilderness  like  pillars  of 
smoke,  perfumed  with  myrrh 
and  frankincense,  with  all 
powders  of  the  merchant  ? 

Cant.  \i\.  6. 

This  would  refresh  us  in  the  hardest  labour, — as 
they  that  carry  the  spices  from  Arabia  are  re- 
freshed with  the  smell  of  them  in  their  journey, 
and  some  observe  that  it  keeps  their  strength  and 
frees  them  from  fainting.  LEIGHTON. 


How  sweetly  doth  My  Master  sound ;  My  Master ! 
As  ambergris  leaves  a  rich  scent 

Unto  the  taste, 

So  do  those  words  a  sweet  content, 
An  Oriental  fragrancy: — My  Master! 

HERBERT. 


15.  Those  that  be  planted  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord  shall  flourish 
in  the  courts  of  our  God.  They 
shall  still  bring  forth  fruit  in 

Old  age.  Psalm  xcii.  13,  14. 

12 


134  JULY. 

There  is  nothing  more  odious  than  fruitless  old 
age.  Now,  for  that  no  tree  bears  fruit  in  autumn 
unless  it  blossom  in  the  spring,  to  the  end  that  my 
age  may  be  profitable  and  laden  with  ripe  fruit,  I 
will  endeavour  that  my  youth  may  be  studious  and 
flowered  with  the  blossoms. of  learning  and  observa- 
tion. BISHOP  HALL. 

These,  planted  in  the  house  of  God, 
Within  his  courts  shall  thrive : 

Their  vigour  and  their  lustre  both 
Shall  in  old  age  revive. 


16.  I  will  not  leave  you  comfortless : 
I  will  come  to  you. 

John  xiv.  18. 

How  often  has  that  voice  broken  with  its  silvery 
accents  the  muffled  stillness  of  the  sick-chamber  or 
death-chamber !  "  /  will  not  leave  you  comfortless :" 
the  world  may,  friends  may,  the  desolations  of 
bereavement  and  death  may;  lout  I  will  not:  you 
will  be  alone,  yet  not  alone;  for  I,  your  Saviour 
and  your  God,  will  be  with  you. 

I  need  thy  presence  every  passing  hour : 
What  but  thy  grace  can  foil  the  tempest's  power  ? 
Who  like  thyself  my  guide  and  stay  can  be  ? 
On  to  the  close,  0  Lord,  abide  with  me ! 

LTTB. 


JULY.  135 

17.  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel 

that  they  go  forward. 

Exodus  xiv.  15. 

Oh,  as  ever  you  would  be  useful  and  happy  in 
religion,  let  your  motto  be,  "  Forward !  forward  I"  to 
your  very  last  day.  RYLE. 

Saviour,  where'er  thy  steps  I  see, 
Dauntless,  untired,  I  follow  thee : 
Oh,  let  thy  hand  support  me  still, 
And  lead  me  to  thy  holy  hill. 

JOHN  WESLEY. 

18.  He  raiseth  up  the  poor  out  of 

the  dust,  and  lifteth  up  the 
beggar  from  the  dunghill,  to 
set  them  among  princes,  and 
to  make  them  inherit  the 
throne  of  glory.  1  Sam.  u.  8. 

Providence  often  sets  the  grandest  spirits  in  the 
lowest  places,  and  gives  to  many  a  man  a  soul  far 
better  than  his  birth. 

Upwards  tending, 

Like  plants  in  mines  which  never  saw  the  sun, 
But  dream  of  him  and  guess  where  he  may  be, 
They  do  their  best  to  climb,  and  get  to  him. 

ROBERT  BROWNING. 


136  JULY. 

19.  So  am  I  made  to  possess  months 
of  vanity,  and  wearisome 
nights  are  appointed  to  me. 

Job  vii.  3. 

The  greatest  vanity  of  this  world  is  remarkable 
in  this, — that  all  its  joys  summed  up  together  are  not 
big  enough  to  counterpoise  the  evil  of  one  sharp 
disease  or  to  allay  a  sorrow.  JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

Resolve  me  why  the  cottager  and  king, — 
He  whom  sea-sever'd  realms  obey,  and  he 
Who  steals  his  whole  dominion  from  the  waste, 
Repelling  winter-blasts  with  mud  and  straw, — 
Disquieted  alike,  draw  sigh  for  sigh, 
In  fate  so  distant,  in  complaint  so  near? 
His  grief  is  but  his  grandeur  in  disguise, 
And  discontent  is  immortality. 

YOUNO. 


20.  Where  is  the  house  of  the 
prince?  and  where  are  the 
dwelling-places  of  the  wicked  ? 

Job  xxi.  28. 

The  sun  shines  in  his  full  brightness  but  the 
very  moment  before  he  passes  under  a  cloud.  He 
who  builds  upon  the  present  builds  upon  the  narrow 


JULY.  137 

compass  of  a  point;  and  where  the  foundation  is  so 
narrow  the  superstructure  cannot  be  high  and 
strong  too.  SOUTH. 

Too  low  they  build,  who  build  beneath  the  stars ! 

YOUNG. 

21.  Follow  peace  with  all  men,  and 

holiness,    without   which    no 
man  shall  see  the  Lord. 

Heb.  xii.  14. 

The  highest  beauty  of  the  soul,  the  very  image 
of  God  upon  it,  is  holiness.  He  that  is  aspiring  to 
it  himself  is  upon  a  most  excellent  design ;  and,  if 
he  can  do  any  thing  to  excite  and  call  up  others  to 
it,  he  performs  a  work  of  the  greatest  charity. 

LEIGHTON. 

'Tis  Love  unites  what  Sin  divides, — 
The  centre  where  all  bliss  resides, — 

To  which  the  soul,  once  brought, 
Reclining  on  the  First  Great  Cause, 
From  his  abounding  sweetness  draws 

Peace  passing  human  thought. 

MADAME  GUYOW. 

22.  Hold  up  my  goings  in  thy  paths, 

that  my  footsteps  slip  not. 

Psalm  xvii.  5. 


138  JULY. 

It  is  upon  the  smooth  ice  we  slip :  the  rough  path 
is  safest  for  the  feet.  EVANS. 

My  spirit  labours  up  the  hill, 
And  climbs  the  heavenly  road ; 

But  thy  right  hand  upholds  me  still, 
While  I  pursue  my  God. 

WATTS. 


23.  And  white    robes  were    given 
unto  every  one  of  them. 

Rev.  vi.  11. 

We  must  here  have  our  loins  girt;  but  when  come 
there  we  may  wear  our  long  white  robes  at  their  full 
length  without  disturbance, — for  there  is  nothing 
there  but  peace, — and  without  danger  of  defile- 
ment,— for  no  unclean  thing  is  there;  yea,  the 
streets  of  that  new  Jerusalem  are  paved  with  gold. 

LEIQHTON. 

In  shining  white  they  stand, 
A  great  and  countless  throng, 

A  palmy  sceptre  in  each  hand, 
On  every  lip  a  song. 

JUDKIN. 


24.  Is  any  among  you  afflicted  ?  let 
him  pray.  James  v.  13. 


JULY. 

Prayer  turns  our  thoughts  from  men  to  angels, — 
from  frailty  to  perfection, — from  a  few  evil  days  to 
a  happy  eterniiy, — from  a  jumble  of  sighs  and  joys 
to  a  gladness  that  endureth  forever. 

My  God,  0  Jehovah,  I  have  trusted  in  thee  ; 

0  Jesus,  my  Saviour,  now  rescue  thou  me : 

Like  fetters  in  iron,  deep  griefs  me  environ.    Thy  smile 

let  me  see ! 
With  sighing  and  crying,  at  thy  feet  lowly  lying, 

1  adore  thee,  implore  thee,  now  rescue  thou  me ! 

MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS. 


25.  He  shall  enter  into  peace :  they 
shall  rest  in  their  beds,  each 
one  walking  in  his  upright- 
ness. Isaiah  Ivii.  2. 

Some  have  died  with  more  joy  than  they  lived, 
and  triumphed  over  the  last  enemy  with  the  vocal 
praises  of  Godj  others,  with  silent  affections,  have 
quietly  commended  their  spirits  into  his  hand. 
Some  have  inward  refreshings  and  support ;  others, 
exuberant  joys  and  ravishments,  as  if  the  light  of 
glory  shined  into  them,  or  the  veil  of  flesh  were 
drawn  and  their  spirits  were  present  with  the  in- 
visible world.  BATES. 


140  JULY. 

'Tis  but  the  falling  of  a  wither'd  leaf, — 

The  breaking  of  a  shell, 

The  rending  of  a  veil ! 
Oh,  when  that  leaf  shall  fall,— 
That  shell  be  burst, — that  veil  be  rent, — may  then 

My  spirit  be  with  thine ! 

SOUTHKY. 


26.  Tour  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in 

God.  Col  iii.  3. 

There  is  no  true  life  but  the  life  of  faith.  0  Lord, 
let  me  live  out  of  the  world  with  thee,  if  thou  wilt  > 
but  let  me  not  live  in  the  world  without  thee. 

HALL. 

Thou  hidden  love  of  God,  whose  height, 
Whose  depths  unfathom'd,  no  man  knows, 

I  see  from  far  thy  beauteous  light ; 
Inly  I  sigh  for  thy  repose : 

My  heart  is  pain'd,  nor  can  it  be 

At  rest  till  it  finds  rest  in  thee. 

JOHN  WESLEY. 


27.  For  the  wages  of  sin  is  death: 
but  the  gift  of  God  is  eternal 
life  through  Jesus  Christ  our 

Lord.  Rom.  vi.  23. 


JULY.  141 

In  heaven  sin  known  and  pardoned  is  the  song  of 
praise ;  sin  known  and  unpardoned  is  hell. 

ADAM. 

Eternal  life  to  all  mankind 

Thou  hast  in  Jesus  given ; 
And  all  who  seek  in  him  shall  find 

The  happiness  of  heaven. 


28.  I  die  daily.  i  Oor.  xv.  si. 

While  we  think  a  thought,  we  die,  and  the  clock 
strikes,  and  reckons  on  a  portion  of  our  eternity :  we 
form  our  words  with  the  breath  of  our  nostrils;  we 
have  the  less  to  live  upon  for  every  word  we  speak. 

JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

Our  wasting  lives  grow  shorter  still 

As  days  and  months  increase, 
And  every  beating  pulse  we  tell 

Leaves  but  the  number  less. 

WATTS. 


29.  Followers  of  them  who  through 
faith  and  patience  inherit  the 
promises.  Heb.  vi.  12. 

God  appoints  to  every  one  of  his  creatures   a 
separate  mission ;  and  if  they  discharge  it  honourably, 


142  JULY. 

if  they  quit  themselves  like  men,  and  faithfully 
follow  that  light  which  is  in  them,  withdrawing 
from  it  all  cold  and  quenching  influence,  there  will 
assuredly  come  of  it  such  burning  as,  in  its  appointed 
mode  and  measure,  shall  shine  before  men  and  be 
of  service  constant  and  holy.  Degrees  infinite  of 
lustre  there  must  always  be ;  but  the  weakest  among 
us  has  a  gift,  however  seemingly  trivial,  which  is 
peculiar  to  him,  and  which,  worthily  used,  will  be  a 
gift  also  to  his  race  forever. 

And  often  from  that  other  world  or  this 

Some  gleams  from  great  souls  gone  before  may  shine, 
To  shed  on  struggling  hearts  a  clearer  bliss 

And  clothe  the  truth  with  lustre  more  divine. 

30.  0  death,  where  is  thy  sting? 

1  Cor.  xv.  55. 

Tell  those  (children  of  Grod)  that  are  drawing 
down  to  the  bed  of  death,  from  my  experience,  that 
it  has  no  terrors, — that  in  the  hour  when  it  is  most 
wanted  there  is  mercy  with  the  Most  High,  and  that 
some  change  takes  place  which  fits  the  soul  to  meet 
its  God.  SIR  WILLIAM  FORBES. 

Thus !  oh,  not  thus !  No  type  of  earth 

Could  image  that  awaking, 
Wherein  he  scarcely  heard  the  chants 

Of  seraphs  round  him  breaking, 


JULY.  143 



Or  felt  the  new  immortal  throb 

Of  soul  from  body  parted, 
But  felt  those  eyes  alone,  and  knew 

My  Saviour !  not  deserted  ! 

MES.  BROWNING. 

31.  For  Christ  is  not  entered  into 
the  holy  places  made  with 
hands;  .  .  .  but  into  heaven 
itself,  now  to  appear  in  the  pre- 
sence Of  God  for  US.  Seb.  ix.  24. 

No  music  like  Aaron's  bells.  Mercy  and  pro- 
pitiation through  our  great  High-Priest  sound 
sweetly  to  our  purged  ear.  ADAM. 

See  where  our  great  High-Priest 

Before  the  Lord  appears, 
And  on  his  loving  breast 

The  tribes  of  Israel  bears : 
Never  without  his  people  seen, 
The  head  of  all  believing  men. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 


AUGUST. 


1.  THE  eyes  of  the  Lord  are  in  every 

place.  Prov.  xv.  3. 

God's  omniscience  is  a  light  shining  into  every 
dark  corner,  ripping  up  all  secrets  and  steadfastly 
grasping  the  greatest  and  most  slippery  uncertain- 
ties. As  when  we  see  the  sun  shine  upon  a  river^ 
though  the  waves  of  it  move  and  roll  this  way  and 
that  way  by  the  wind,  yet,  for  all  their  unsettled- 
ness,  the  sun  strikes  them  with  a  direct  and  certain 
beam.  SOUTH. 

What  our  dim  eye  could  never  see 

Is  plain  and  naked  to  thy  sight ; 
What  thickest  darkness  veils,  to  thee 

Shines  clearly  as  the  morning  light. 
In  light  thou  dwell'st, — light  that  no  shade, 

No  variation,  ever  knew : 
Heaven,  earth  and  hell  stand  all  display'd 

And  open  to  thy  piercing  view. 

JOHN  WESLEY. 
144 


AUGUST.  145 

2.  For  I  reckon  that  the  sufferings 
of  this  present  time  are  not 
worthy  to  be  compared  with 
the  glory  which  shall  be  re- 
vealed in  US.  Rom.  viii.  18. 

Were  the  heart  much  upon  the  thoughts  of  that 
glory,  what  thing  is  there  in  this  perishing  world 
which  could  either  lift  it  up  or  cast  it  down  ? 

LEKJHTON. 

Mourner,  joy !  an  angel's  pathway 

Brightens  with  thy  treasured  flower, 
Wings  unseen  its  perfume  bear  thee, 

Sweetest  in  life's  darkest  hour. 
Christian,  joy !  no  tie  is  broken; 

All  love's  strength  thou  may'st  retain  : 
God  removes ;  but  faith  has  spoken, 

Heaven  shall  yield  thee  all  again ! 


3.  Glorify  God  in  your  body,  and 
in  your  spirit,  which  are  God's. 

1  Cor.  vi.  20. 

God   is  Lord  of  my  body  also,   and   therefore 
challengeth  as  well  reverent  gesture  as  inward  de- 
votion.    I  will  ever,  in  my  prayer,  either  stand,  as 
K  IS 


146  AUGUST. 

a  servant,  before  my  Master,  or  kneel,  as  a  subject, 
to  my  Prince.  HALL. 

When  once  thy  foot  enters  the  church,  be  bare : 
God  is  there  more  than  thou ;  for  thou  art  there 

Only  by  his  permission.     Then  beware, 
And  make  thyself  all  reverence  and  fear, 

Kneeling,  nice  spoiled  silk-stocking.    Quit  thy  state  : 

All  equal  are  within  the  church's  gate. 

HERBERT. 

4.  For  we  which  have  believed  do 

enter  into  rest.  Heb.  iv.  3. 

A  present  rest, — the  rest  of  grace,  as  well  as  the 
rest  of  glory.  Not  only  are  there  signals  of  peace 
hung  out  from  the  walls  of  heaven, — the  lights  of 
home  glimmering  in  the  distance  to  cheer  our  foot- 
steps,— but  we  have  the  "  shadow"  of  this  "  great 
Rock"  in  a  present  "  weary  land." 

Oh  that  I  now  the  rest  might  know, 

Believe,  and  enter  in  ! 
Now,  Saviour,  now  the  power  bestow, 

And  let  me  cease  from  sin. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 

5.  And   Enoch   walked   with  God: 

and  he  was  not ;  for  God  took 

him.  Genesis  v.  24. 


AUGUST.  147 

Solemn,  affectionate  and  frequent  converse  with 
G-od  in  religious  duties  will  render  death  not  fearful 
to  us.  A  Christian  that  walks  with  God  here, 
when  he  leaves  the  world  changes  his  room,  but 
not  his  company.  God  was  always  with  him  on 
earth,  and  he  shall  be  ever  with  God  in  heaven. 

BATES. 

Walk  in  the  light :  thy  path  shall  be 

Peaceful,  serene,  and  bright ; 
For  God,  by  grace,  shall  dwell  in  thee ; 

And  God  himself  is  light. 

BERNARD  BARTON. 


6.  Godliness  is  profitable  unto  all 
things,  having  promise  of  the 
life  that  now  is,  and  of  that 
which  is  to  come,  i  Tim.  iv.  8. 

The  things  of  God  and  of  religion  are  easy  and 
sweet;  they  bear  entertainment  in  their  hand  and 
reward  at  their  back ;  their  good  is  certain  and  per- 
petual, and  they  make  us  cheerful  to-day  and  plea- 
sant to-morrow.  JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

Still,  still  with  thee,  as  to  each  new-born  morning 
A  fresh  and  solemn  splendour  still  is  given, 

So  doth  this  blessed  consciousness,  awaking, 

Breathe  each  day  nearness  unto  thee  and  heaven. 


148  AUGUST. 

When  sinks  the  soul,  subdued  by  toil,  to  slumber 
Its  closing  eye  looks  up  to  thee  in  prayer ; 

Sweet  the  repose  beneath  thy  wings  o'ershading, 
But  sweeter  still  to  wake  and  find  thee  there. 

MRS.  STOWB. 


7.  Sorrow  is  better  than  laughter; 
for  by  the  sadness  of  the 
countenance  the  heart  is  made 
better.  EccUs.  vii.  3. 

There  is  a  sorrow  the  end  whereof  is  joy;  and 
eternal  laughter  leadeth  to  destruction.  It  is  better 
sometimes  to  steal  from  the  gladness  of  the  feast, — 
to  stop  the  joy  of  the  harp, — to  quench  the  splendour 
of  the  lamp, — to  put  off  the  wedding-garment, — and 
to  speak  of  the  wretchedness  of  the  grave.  I  must 
lie  on  my  last  bed.  The  day  must  come,  but  I  know 
not  when :  the  feet  of  them  which  have  buried  my 
kindred  are  at  the  door;  it  may  be  that  they  shall 
carry  me  out. 

Count  each  affliction,  whether  light  or  grave, 
God's  messenger  sent  down  to  thee.     Do  thou 
With  courtesy  receive  him  ;  rise,  and  bow ; 
And,  ere  his  shadow  pass  thy  threshold,  crave 
Permission  first  his  heavenly  feet  to  lave. 

AOBBEY  DE  VEBE. 


AUGUST.  149 

8.  And  the  work  of  righteousness 
shall  be  peace ;  and  the  effect 
of  righteousness,  quietness 
and  assurance  forever. 

Isaiah  xxxii.  17. 

It  is  peace  the  soul  wants.   Existence  is  one  long- 
drawn  sigh  after  repose. 

So  to  the  heart  that  knows  thy  love,  0  Purest ! 

There  is  a  temple  sacred  evermore, 
And  all  the  babble  of  life's  angry  voices 

Dies  in  hush'd  stillness  at  its  peaceful  door. 

Far,  far  away,  the  roar  of  passion  dieth, 
And  loving  thoughts  rise  calm  and  peacefully ; 

And  no  rude  storm,  how  fierce  soe'er  it  flieth, 
Disturbs  the  soul  that  dwells,  0  Lord,  in  thee. 


9.  As  for  God,  his  way  is  perfect. 

Psalm  xviii.  30. 

God's  hand  is  as  steady  as  his  eye ;  and  certainly 
thus  to  reduce  contingency  to  method,  instability 
and  chance  itself  to  an  unfailing  rule  and  order, 
argues  such  a  mind  as  is  fit  to  govern  the  world; 
and  I  am  sure  nothing  less  than  such  a  one  can. 

SOUTH. 
13* 


150  AUGUST. 

Those  mighty  orbs  proclaim  thy  power ; 

Their  motions  speak  thy  skill ; 
And  on  the  wings  of  every  hour 

We  read  thy  patience  still. 


10.  Happy  is  that  people  that  is  in 

such  a  case;  yea,  happy  is  that 
people  whose  God  is  the  Lord. 

Psalm  cxliv.  15. 

Oh,  how  happy  are  they  whose  hearts  are  not 
here,  trading  with  vanity  and  gathering  vexation, 
but  whose  thoughts  are  on  that  blessed  life  above 
trouble !  LEIGHTON. 

Round  each  habitation  hovering, 

See  the  cloud  and  fire  appear, 
For  a  glory  and  a  covering, 

Showing  that  the  Lord  is  near. 
He  who  gives  us  daily  manna, 

He  who  listens  when  we  cry, 
Let  him  hear  the  loud  Hosanna 

Rising  to  his  throne  on  high. 

NEWTON. 

11.  What  I  do,  thou  knowest  not 

now;  but  thou    shalt   know 
hereafter.  John  xiii.  7. 


AUGUST.  151 

An  earthly  child  takes  on  trust  what  his  father 
tells  him :  when  he  reaches  maturity,  much  that 
was  baffling  to  his  infant  comprehension  is  explained. 
Thou  art  in  this  world  in  the  nonage  of  thy  being. 
Eternity  is  the  soul's  immortal  manhood. 

Can  loving  children  e'er  reprove 

With  murmurs  whom  they  trust  and  love  ? 

Creator,  I  would  ever  be 

A  trusting,  loving  child  to  thee : 

As  comes  to  me  or  cloud  or  sun, 

Father,  thy  will — not  mine — be  done. 

ADAMS. 

12.  There  be  many  that  say,  Who 
will  show  us  any  good?  Lord, 
lift  thou  up  the  light  of  thy 
countenance  upon  us. 

Psalm  iv.  6. 

Riches,  or  beauty,  or  whatever  worldly  good  hath 
been,  doth  but  grieve  us :  that  which  is  doth  not 
satisfy  us ;  that  which  shall  be  is  uncertain.  What, 
folly  is  it  to  trust  to  any  of  them  !  HALL. 

Lift  up  thy  countenance  serene, 

And  let  thy  happy  child 
Behold,  without  a  cloud  between, 

The  Godhead  reconciled. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 


152  AUGUST. 

13.  Unite   my   heart    to    fear   thy 
name.  Psalm  ixxxvi.  11. 

Then  all  our  love,  that  is  now  scattered  and  par- 
celled out  upon  the  vanities  among  which  we  are 
here,  shall  be  united  and  gathered  into  one  and 
fixed  upon  God,  and  the  soul  filled  with  the  delight 
of  his  presence.  LEIGHTON. 

Take  my  poor  heart,  and  let  it  be 
Forever  closed  to  all  but  thee ; 
Seal  thou  my  heart,  and  let  me  wear 
That  pledge  of  love  forever  there. 

JOHN  WESLEY. 


14.  Oh  that  they  were  wise,  that  they 
understood  this,  that  they 
would  consider  their  latter 
end !  Deut.  xxxii.  29. 

To  watch  over  the  gradual  waste  of  life,  to 
minister  to  the  last  sickness,  to  mourn  over  friends 
that  perish  and  children  that  are  snatched  away, — 
these  things  teach  us  all  to  repent :  they  are  lessons 
to  which  every  ear  is  open  and  by  which  all  hearts 
are  impressed. 


AUGUST.  153 

Smitten  friends 

Are  angels  sent  on  errands  full  of  love : 
For  us  they  languish,  and  for  us  they  die. 
And  shall  they  languish,  shall  they  die,  in  vain  ? 

YOUNG. 

15.  Oh,  give  thanks  unto  the  God  of 

heaven :  for  his  mercy  endureth 

forever.  Psalm  cxxxvi.  26 

Though  angels  were  objects  of  God's  bounty,  yet 
man  only  is  the  object  of  his  mercy;  and  the  mercy 
which  dwelt  in  an  infinite  circle  became  confined  to 
a  little  ring,  and  dwelt  here  below,  and  here  shall 
dwell  below  till  it  hath  carried  all  God's  portion  up 
to  heaven,  where  it  shall  reign  and  glory  upon  our 
crowned  heads  for  ever  and  ever. 

JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

Thank  and  praise  Jehovah's  name ; 

For  his  mercies  firm  and  sure 
From  eternity  the  same 

To  eternity  endure. 

MONTGOMERY. 

16.  As  for  man,  his  days   are  as 

grass :  as  a  flower  of  the  field, 
so    he    flourisheth.     For    the 


154  AUGUST. 

wind  passeth  over  it,  and  it  is 
gone;  and  the  place  thereof 
shall  know  it  no  more. 

Psalm  ciii.  15,  16. 

If  I  die,  the  world  shall  miss  me  but  a  little  j  I 
shall  miss  it  less.  Not  it  me, — because  it  hath  such 
store  of  better  men;  not  I  it, — because  it  hath  so 
much  ill  and  I  shall  have  so  much  happiness. 

HALL. 

Thus  still,  whene'er  the  good  and  just 
Close  the  dim  eye  on  life  and  pain, 

Heaven  watches  o'er  their  sleeping  dust 
Till  the  pure  spirit  comes  again. 

Though  harmless,  trampled,  unforgot, 

His  servant's  humble  ashes  lie, 
Yet  God  has  mark'd  and  seal'd  the  spot, 

To  call  its  inmate  to  the  sky. 

BETANT. 


17.  Thy  will  be  done.    Matt.  xxvi.  42. 

We  must  suffer  if  he  will ;  but  if  we  will  what  he 
wills,  even  in  suffering,  that  makes  it  sweet  and 
easy, — when  our  mind  goes  along  with  his,  and 
we  willingly  move  with  that  stream  of  providence, 


AUGUST.  155 

which  will  carry  us  with  it  even  though  we  row 
against  it, — in  which  case  we  still  have  nothing  but 
toil  and  weariness  for  our  pains.  LEIGHTON. 

I  know  that  trial  is  his  love 

With  but  a  graver  face, 
That  veil'd  in  sorrow  earthward  move 

The  ministries  of  grace. 
May  none  depart  till  I  have  gain'd 

The  blessing  which  it  bears, 
And  learn,  though  late,  I  entertain'd 

An  angel  unawares ! 


18.  But  man  dieth,  and  wasteth 
away:  yea,  man  giveth  up 
the  ghost,  and  where  is  he  ? 

Job  xiv.  10. 

Oblivion  is  not  to  be  hired :  the  greater  part 
must  be  content  to  be  as  though  they  had  not  been, 
— to  be  found  in  the  register  of  God,  not  in  the  record 
of  man.  Twenty-seven  names  make  up  the  first 
story;  and  the  recorded  names  ever  since  contain  not 
one  living  century.  The  number  of  the  dead  long 
exceedeth  all  that  shall  live.  Every  hour  adds  unto 
that  current  arithmetic  which  scarce  stands  one 
moment.  SIR  THOMAS  BROWNE. 


156  AUGUST. 

O'er  them,  and  o'er  their  names,  the  billows  close  : 

To-morrow  knows  not  they  were  ever  born. 

Others  a  short  memorial  leave  behind  : 

Like  a  flag  floating,  when  the  bark's  engulf  d, 

It  floats  a  moment,  and  is  seen  no  more. 

One  Csesar  lives  ;  a  thousand  are  forgot. 

YOUHO. 

19.  Can  thine  heart  endure,  or  can 
thine  hands  be  strong,  in  the 
days  that  I  shall  deal  with 

EzeJc.  xxii.  14. 


Are  heaven  and  hell  such  trivial  things  as  to  be 
left  to  an  uncertainty  ?  BATES. 

How  will  my  heart  endure 

The  terrors  of  that  day, 
When  earth  and  heaven  before  his  face, 

Astonish'd,  shrink  away  ? 

DODDRIDOB. 

20.  And  the  King  shall  answer  and 
say  unto  them,  Yerily  I  say 
unto  you,  inasmuch  as  ye  have 
done  it  unto  one  of  the  least 
of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have 
done  it  unto  me.  Matt.  xxv.  40. 


AUGUST.  157 

The  poor  man's  hand  is  the  treasury  of  Christ. 
All  my  superfluity  shall  be  there  hoarded  up,  where 
I  know  it  shall  be  safely  kept  and  surely  returned 
me.  HALL. 

Then  in  a  moment  to  my  view 

The  stranger  darted  from  disguise  : 
The  tokens  in  his  hands  I  knew  ; 

My  Saviour  stood  before  mine  eyes. 
He  spake;  and  my  poor  name  he  named: — 
"  Of  me  thou  hast  not  been  ashamed  : 
These  deeds  shall  thy  memorial  be : 
Fear  not,  thou  didst  them  unto  me." 

MONTGOMERY. 


21.  The  sons  of  God,  without  rebuke, 
in  the  midst  of  a  crooked  and 
perverse  nation.  Phil.  \\.  15. 

I  believe  that  far  more  is  done  for  Christ's  king- 
dom by  the  holy  living  of  believers  than  we  are  at 
all  aware.  There  is  a  reality  about  such  living 
which  makes  men  feel  and  obliges  them  to  think. 
It  makes  religion  beautiful,  and  draws  men  to  con- 
sider it, — like  a  light-house  seen  afar  off.  RYLE. 

That  wisdom,  Lord,  on  us  bestow, 

From  every  evil  to  depart, 
To  stop  the  mouth  of  every  foe, 

While,  upright  both  in  life  and  heart, 
14 


158  AUGUST. 


The  proofs  of  godly  fear  we  give, 

And  show  them  how  the  Christians  live. 


22.  Go   work   to-day  in   my   vine- 
yard. Matt.  xxi.  28. 

This  work  has  no  measure  but  that  of  our  sphere 
and  that  of  our  power:  it  begins  with  capability, 
and  only  with  capability  it  concludes.  When  we 
walk  forth  on  earth,  then  begins  our  labour;  and 
our  toil  is  not  over  until  that  warning  comes  which 
tells  the  strong  equally  with  the  feeble  that  their 
day  is  closed. 

Up  to  thy  Master's  work !  for  thou  art  call'd 
To  do  his  bidding  till  the  hand  of  death 
Strike  oif  thine  armour. 


23.  While  I  was   musing   the   fire 
burned  :  then  spake  I  with  my 

ie.  Psalm  xxxix.  3. 


Bossuet,  before  he  sat  down  to  compose  a  sermon, 
read  a  chapter  in  the  prophet  Isaiah,  and  another 
in  Rodriguez's  tract  on  Christian  Perfection.  The 
former  fired  his  genius;  the  latter  filled  his  heart. 


AUGUST.  159 

Dominichino  never  offered  to  touch  his  pencil  till 
he  found  a  kind  of  enthusiasm  or  inspiration  upon 
him.  HORNE. 

My  heart  grows  warm  with  holy  fire 
And  kindles  with  a  pure  desire : 
Come,  blessed  Jesus,  from  above, 
And  fill  my  soul  with  heavenly  love. 

WATTS. 


24.  Lord,  Lord,  open  to  us.  But  he 
answered  and  said,  Verily  I 
say  unto  you,  I  know  you  not. 

Matt.  xxv.  11,  12. 

Because  they  knew  him  not.  "  Lord,  Lord"  is 
nothing  to  him,  without  a  faith  to  prize  his  benefits, 
a  heart  to  love  him,  and  a  will  to  be  governed  by 
him.  ADAM. 

Vain,  alas,  will  be  their  plea, 
Workers  of  iniquity : 
Sad  their  everlasting  lot : 
Christ  will  say,  "I  know  you  not." 


25.  Thanks  be  unto  God  for  his  un- 
speakable gift.        2  Cor.  ix.  15. 


160  AUGUST. 

Do  you  call  it  nothing  to  look  forward  to  death 
without  fear,  and  to  judgment  without  doubtings, 
and  to  eternity  without  a  sinking  heart  ?  Do  you 
call  it  nothing  to  feel  the  world  slipping  from  your 
grasp,  and  to  see  the  grave  getting  ready  for  you 
and  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  opening  be- 
fore your  eyes,  and  yet  not  be  afraid  ?  Do  you  call 
it  nothing  to  be  able  to  think  of  the  great  day  of 
account, — the  throne,  the  books,  the  Judge,  the 
assembled  worlds,  the  revealing  of  secrets,  the  final 
sentence, — and  yet  to  feel,  "  I  am  safe"  ?  This  is  the 
portion,  and  this  the  privilege,  of  a  forgiven  soul. 

KYLE. 

The  gift  unspeakable 

We  thankfully  receive, 
And  to  the  world  thy  goodness  tell 

And  to  thy  glory  live. 

C.  WESLEY. 

26.  But  God  forbid  that  I  should 
glory,  save  in  the  cross  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Gal.  \\.  14. 

Christian  childhood,  the  Sunday-school,  ministry 
to  the  poor,  numberless  other  phases  of  life,  have 
relation  to  a  cross  which  eighteen  hundred  years 
ago  was  raised  on  Calvary,  in  the  remote  province 
of  Judea. 


AUGUST.  161 

In  the  cross  of  Christ  I  glory : 
Towering  o'er  the  wrecks  of  time, 

All  the  light  of  sacred  story 
Gathers  round  its  head  sublime. 

BOWKINO. 

27.  Eedeeming  the  time.     Col.  iv.  5. 

Bishop  Andrews,  when  a  lad  at  the  university, 
used  every  year  to  visit  his  friends  in  London  and 
to  stay  a  month  with  them.  During  that  month  he 
constantly  made  it  a  rule  to  learn,  by  the  help  of  a 
master,  some  language  or  art  to  which  he  was  be- 
fore a  stranger.  No  time  was  lost.  HORNE. 

Redeem  we  time  ? — Its  loss  we  dearly  buy. 

'Tis  the  good  heart's  prerogative  to  raise 
A  royal  tribute  from  the  poorest  hours : 

Immense  revenue  !  every  moment  pays. 

YOUNQ. 

28.  Praying  always  with  all  prayer 

and  supplication  in  the  Spirit. 

Ephesians  vi.  18. 

Prayer  is  the  very  breath  by  which  a  regenerate 
man  lives :  the  pulse  of  his  heart  beats  strong  with 
it,  and  it  conveys  health  and  nourishment  to  his 
soul.  ADAM. 

L  14» 


162  AUGUST. 

Prayer  is  the  Christian's  vital  breath, 

The  Christian's  native  air ; 
His  watchword  at  the  gate  of  death  : 

He  enters  heaven  with  prayer. 

MONTGOMERY. 


29.  For  the  arrows  of  the  Almighty 
are  within  me,  the  poison 
whereof  drinketh  up  my  spirit: 
the  terrors  of  G-od  do  set  them- 
selves in  array  against  me. 

Job  vi.  4. 

Kemorse  is  man's  dread  prerogative,  and  is  the 
natural  accompaniment  of  his  constitution,  as  a 
knowing,  voluntary  agent  left  in  trust  with  his  own 
welfare  and  that  of  others.  Remorse,  if  we  exclude 
the  notion  of  responsibility,  is  an  enigma  in  human 
nature,  never  to  be  explained.  ISAAC  TAYLOR. 

Is  conscience,  then, 

No  part  of  nature  ?     Is  she  not  supreme  ? 
Virtue's  foundations  with  the  world  were  laid ; 
Heaven  mixed  her  with  our  make,  and  twisted  close 
Her  sacred  interests  with  the  strings  of  life. 
Who  breaks  her  awful  mandate  shocks  himself, 
His  better  self. 

YOUNG. 


AUGUST.  163 

30.  Whether  life,  or  death,  or  things 

present,  or  things  to  come,  all 
are  your's.  1  Cor.  m.  22. 

When  the  apostle  is  drawing  up  a  Christian's 
inventory,  he  reckons  death  as  part  of  his  goods. 
And  well  may  a  Christian  count  death  among  his 
gains,  since  it  is  the  hand  of  death  which  draws 
the  curtain  of  the  great  tabernacle  and  lets  us  in  to 
see  God  face  to  face  in  that  palace  of  inestimable 
majesty,  where  we  shall  see  the  strong  rays  of  his 
glory  beat  full  upon  us  and  be  ourselves  made 
strong  enough  to  bear  them.  HOPKINS. 

And  life  is  your's, — to  give  it  all 

To  works  of  faith  and  love ; 
And  death  is  your's, — a  welcome  call 

To  higher  joys  above. 

31.  [His    mercies]    are  new  every 

morning.  Lamentations  iii.  23. 

Every  life  is  a  new  life.  Every  day  is  a  new 
day, — like  nothing  that  ever  went  before  or  can 
ever  follow  after.  ROBERTSON. 

New  time,  new  favours  and  new  joys 

Do  a  new  song  require : 
Till  we  shall  praise  thee  as  we  would, 

Accept  our  heart's  desire.  MASOK. 


SEPTEMBER. 


1.  AMONG  whom  ye  shine  as  lights 
in  the  world.  PUI.  u.  15. 

As  those  that  we  call  falling  stars  dart  from 
heaven  and  draw  after  them  long  trains  of  light, 
so  God  would  have  us  to  shoot  up  to  heaven,  but 
yet  to  leave  a  train  of  light  behind  us.  Our  graces 
must  shine  always :  we  must  go  on  in  good  works. 

HOPKINS. 

Heaven  doth  with  us  as  we  with  torches  do ; 
Not  light  them  for  themselves :  for  if  our  virtues 
Did  not  go  forth  of  us,  'twere  all  alike 
As  if  we  had  them  not. 

SHAKSPKAEE. 


2.  Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he 
should  go,  and  when  he  is  old 
he  will  not  depart  from  it. 

Prov.  xxii.  6. 
164 


SEPTEMBER.  165 


Training  involves  the  idea  of  patient,  protracted, 
incessant  effort;  of  earnest,  trustful  prayer;  of  effect- 
ive, intelligible,  appropriating  faith;  of  a  holy,  em- 
phatic example;  of  a  gentle,  winning,  loving  spirit; 
of  an  obedient,  all-embracing  and  intense  piety, 
which  should  transform  our  homes  into  Bethels, 
and  our  hearths  into  holy  consecrated  altars,  upon 
which  incense  and  peace-offerings  shall  blaze  ever- 
more. OLIN. 

God  gave  a  gift  to  earth : — a  child, 

Weak,  docile,  and  not  yet  denied, 

Open'd  its  ignorant  eyes  and  smiled. 

Earth  bent  her  utmost  art  and  skill 

To  train  the  supple  mind  and  will 

And  guard  it  from  a  breath  of  ill. 

She  shed  in  rainbow  hues  of  light 
A  halo  round  the  Good  and  Right, 
To  tempt  and  charm  the  baby's  sight. 
And  every  step  of  work  or  play 
Was  lit  by  some  such  dazzling  ray, 
Till  morning  brighten'd  into  day. 

3.  Walk  in  wisdom   toward  them 
that  are  without,   redeeming 

the  time.  Colossians  iv.  5. 

Small  portions  of  time,  linked  together  by  con- 
stancy of  return  and  closeness  of  succession,  will 


166  SEPTEMBER. 


form  in  mouths  and  years  a  noble  amount  of  im- 
provement. JOHN  PYE  SMITH. 

Every  hour  that  fleets  so  slowly 

Has  its  task  to  do  or  bear : 
Luminous  the  crown,  and  holy, 

If  thou  set  each  gem  with  care. 


4.  Tea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they 
may  rest  from  their  labours. 

Rev.  xiv.  13. 

Christians !  think  but  seriously  with  yourselves, 
that  though  your  way  be  rugged  and  tiresome,  yet 
it  is  a  way  that  leads  unto  your  Father's  house : 
and  though  you  come  there  all  wet  and  weary, — wet 
with  your  tears  and  wearied  with  your  burdens, — 
yet  there  you  shall  be  surely  welcome,  and  enjoy  an 
eternity  of  rest :  there  you  shall  sit  down,  and,  with 
everlasting  joy,  account  to  your  brethren — a  whole 
circle  of  surrounding  saints — all  the  wonderful 
methods  of  divine  Providence  which  brought  you 
thither.  HOPKINS. 

But  love,  whose  speechless  ecstasy 

Had  overborne  the  finite,  now 
Throbs  through  thy  being  pure  and  free 

And  burns  upon  thy  radiant  brow 


SEPTEMBER.  167 


For  thou  those  hands'  dear  touch  hast  felt, 
Where  still  the  nail-prints  are  display'd, 

And  thou  before  that  face  hast  knelt 

Which  wears  the  scars  the  thorns  have  made ! 


5.  For  a  day  in  thy  courts  is  better 
than  a  thousand.  I  had  rather 
be  a  door-keeper  in  the  house 
of  my  God,  than  to  dwell  in 
the  tents  of  wickedness. 

Psalm  Ixxxiv.  10. 

I  have  lived  to  see  five  princes,  and  have  been 
privy-counsellor  to  four  of  them.  I  have  seen  the 
most  remarkable  things  in  foreign  parts,  and  have 
been  present  at  most  State  transactions  for  thirty 
years  together.  Were  I  to  live  again,  I  would  ex- 
change this  court  for  a  cloister,  my  privy-counsel- 
lor's bustle  for  a  hermit's  retirement,  and  the  whole 
life  I  have  lived  in  the  palace  for  an  hour's  enjoy- 
ment of  God  in  this  chapel. 

SIR  JOHN  MASON. 

Go,  man  of  pleasure,  strike  the  lyre : 
Of  Sabbaths  broken  sing  the  charms  : 

Ours  are  the  prophet's  car  of  fire 
Which  bear  us  to  a  Father's  arms. 

CUNNINGHAM. 


168  SEPTEMBER. 


6.  For   so  he   giveth    his    beloved 

Sleep.  Psalm  csxvii.  2. 

The  Rev.  Robert  Anderson,  shortly  before  his 
death,  dwelt  much  upon  the  delicious  dreams  he 
had,  saying,  "  How  good  it  is  of  God  to  send  them ! 
They  are  such  as  I  used  to  have  as  a  child :  I  have 
been  walking  through  green  meadows,  by  fresh 
streams,  and  under  the  shade  of  lovely  green  trees." 

"Sleep  soft,  beloved!"  we  sometimes  say, 
But  have  no  tune  to  charm  away 

Sad  dreams  that  through  the  eyelids  creep  ; 
But  never  doleful  dream  again 
Shall  break  the  happy  slumber,  when 

"  He  giveth  his  belove'd  sleep." 

BROWNINQ. 


7.  The  hope  of  glory.    Coiossians  i.  27. 

Heavenly  hope  gives  real  contentment  and  satis- 
faction :  it  antedates  our  glory,  and  puts  us  into  the 
possession  of  our  inheritance  whilst  we  are  yet  in 
our  nonage.  HOPKINS. 

One  sweetly  solemn  thought 

Comes  to  me  o'er  and  o'er : 
I'm  nearer  home  to-day 

Than  I've  ever  been  before ; 


SEPTEMBER. 


Nearer  my  Father's  house, 
Where  the  many  mansions  be ; 

Nearer  the  great  white  throne, 
Nearer  the  jasper  sea. 


8.  Charge  them  that  are  rich  in  this 

world,  .  .  .  that  they  do  good, 
that  they  be  rich  in  good  works, 
ready  to  distribute,  willing  to 
communicate.  1  Tim.  vi.  17,  is. 

The  claims  of  charity  are  laid  even  now,  and 
under  the  divinest  sanctions,  not  literally  at  the 
rich  man's  gate,  but  at  the  door  of  his  conscience. 
There  are  few  who  can  always  pass  by  on  the  other 
side. 

If  I  have  turn'd  away 

From  grief  or  sufferings  which  I  might  relieve, 
Careless  "  the  cup  of  water"  e'en  to  give, 

Forgive  me,  Lord,  I  pray. 

E.  L.  E. 

9.  They  took  knowledge  of  them, 

that  they  had  been  with  Jesus. 

Acts  iv.  13. 
16 


170  SEPTEMBER. 


The  best  way,  after  all,  of  making  the  world  fed 
more  of  our  religion  is  to  have  more  of  it. 

ARNOTT. 

Strive  we  in  affection,  strive ; 
Let  the  purer  flame  revive, 
Such  as  in  the  martyrs  glow'd, 
Dying  champions  for  their  God : 
We  for  Christ,  our  Master,  stand, 
Lights  in  a  benighted  land ; 
We  our  dying  Lord  confess ; 
We  are  Jesus'  witnesses. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 

10.  Tribulation  worketh  patience. 

Rom.  v.  3. 

All  birds,  when  they  are  first  caught  and  put  into 
their  cage,  fly  wildly  up  and  down  and  beat  them- 
selves against  their  little  prison,  but  within  two  or 
three  days  sit  quietly  upon  their  pjerch  and  sing 
t^eir  usual  notes,  with  their  usual  melody.  So  it 
fares  with  us  :  when  God  first  brings  us  into  straits, 
we  wildly  flutter  up  and  down  and  beat  and  tire 
ourselves  with  striving  to  get  free;  but  at  length 
custom  and  experience  will  make  our  narrow  con- 
finement spacious  enough  for  us,  and  though  our 
feet  should  be  in  the  stocks,  yet  shall  we,  with  the 
apostles,  be  able  even  there  to  sing  praises  to  our 
God. 


SBPTEMBEK.  171 


The  rack,  the  cross,  life's  weary  wrench  of  woe, 
The  world  sees  not,  as  slow,  from  day  to  day, 

In  calm,  unspoken  patience,  sadly  still, 
The  loving  spirit  bleeds  itself  away. 

But  there  are  hours  when  from  the  heavens  unfolding 
Come  down  the  angels  with  the  glad  release, 

And  we  look  upward  to  behold  in  glory 
Our  suffering  loved  ones  borne  away  in  peace. 


11.  Walk  worthy  of  the  vocation 
wherewith  ye  are  called. 

Eph.  iv.  1. 

What  a  calming,  elevating,  solemnizing  view  of 
the  tasks  which  we  find  ourselves  set  in  this  world 
to  do,  this  word  [vocation]  would  give  us,  if  we  did 
but  realize  it  to  the  full.  We  did  not  come  to  our 
work  by  accident;  we  did  not  choose  it  for  our- 
selves; but,  under  much  which  may  wear  the  ap- 
pearance of  accident  and  self-choosing,  came  to  it 
by  God's  leading  and  appointment.  TRENCH. 

What  matter  what  the  path  shall  be  ? 

The  end  is  clear  and  bright  to  view : 
We  know  that  we  a  strength  shall  see, 

Whate'er  the  day  may  bring  to  do ; 
We  see  'he  end, — the  house  of  God, — 
But  not  the  path  to  that  abode ; 
For  God  through  ways  they  have  not  known 
Will  lead  his  own 


172  SEPTEMBER. 


12.  Ye  shall   receive   a  crown  of 

glory  that  fadeth  not  away. 

1  Pet.  v.  4. 

It  shall  be  forever  as  glorious,  orient  and  flourish- 
ing as  it  was  at  its  first  putting  on.  Indeed,  eternity 
will  be  the  perpetual  beginning  of  thy  happiness. 

HOPKINS. 

See  there  the  starry  crown 

That  glitters  through  the  skies ; 

S»tan,  the  world,  and  sin  tread  down, 
And  take  the  glorious  prize. 

GHAELES  WESLEY. 

13.  0  Lord,  how  manifold  are  thy 

works!  in  wisdom  hast  thou 
made  them  all:  the  earth  is 
full  of  thy  riches. 

Psalm  civ.  24. 

If  the  God  of  love  is  most  appropriately  wor- 
shipped in  the  Christian  temple,  the  God  of  nature 
may  be  equally  honoured  in  the  temple  of  science. 
Even  from  its  lofty  minarets  the  philosopher  may 
summon  the  faithful  to  prayer,  and  the  priest  and 
the  sage  may  exchange  altars  without  the  compromise 
of  faith  or  of  knowledge. 

SIR  DAVID  BREWSTER. 


SEPTEMBER.  173 


Philosophy  baptized         . 
In  the  pure  fountain  of  eternal  love 
Has  eyes  indeed ; 

Piety  has  found 

Friends  in  the  friends  of  science ;  and  true  prayer 
Has  flow'd  from  lips  wet  with  Castalian  dews. 

COWPER. 


14.  The  lips  of  the  wise  disperse 
knowledge.  Prov.  xv.  7. 

Language  is  the  amber  in  which  a  thousand  pre- 
cious and  subtle  thoughts  have  been  safely  imbedded 
and  preserved.  It  has  arrested  ten  thousand  light- 
ning flashes  of  genius,  which,  unless  thus  fixed  and 
arrested,  might  have  been  as  bright,  but  would  have 
also  been  as  quickly  passing  and  perishing,  as  the 
lightning.  TRENCH. 

Thoughts  disentangle  passing  o'er  the  lip : 
Clean  runs  the  thread ;  if  not,  'tis  thrown  away. 
Speech,  thought's  canal!  speech,  thought's  criterion  too! 
Thought  in  the  mine  may  come  forth  gold  or  dross ; 
When  coin'd  in  words,  we  know  its  real  worth: 
If  sterling,  store  it  for  thy  future  use ; 
'Twill  buy  thee  benefit, — perhaps  renown. 

YOUNG. 
15* 


174  SEPTEMBER. 


15.  The  Lord  hath  made  all  things 

for    himself;    yea,   even    the 
wicked  for  the  day  of  evil. 

Prov.  xvi.  4. 

To  the  man  who  looks  unbelievingly  upon  Divine 
Providence,  the  world's  history  is  a  problem  that 
can  never  be  solved.  MORELL. 

'Tis  immortality  your  nature  solves ; 
'Tis  immortality  deciphers  man 
And  opens  all  the  mysteries  of  his  make. 
Without  it,  half  his  instincts  are  a  riddle ; 
Without  it,  all  his  virtues  are  a  dream. 

YOUNG. 

16.  Pray  without  ceasing. 

1  Thess.  v.  17. 

If  your  hearts  and  affections  be  heavenly,  your 
thoughts  will  force  out  a  passage,  through  the  crowd 
and  tumult  of  worldly  businesses,  to  heaven.  Ejacu- 
lations are  swift  messengers,  which  require  not  much 
time  to  perform  their  errands  in. 

HOPKINS. 

Pray  without  ceasing,  pray, 
(Your  Captain  gives  the  word;) 

His  summons  cheerfully  obey, 
And  call  upon  the  Lord: 


SEPTEMBER.  175 


To  God  your  every  want 

In  instant  prayer  display : 
Pray  always ;  pray,  and  never  faint ; 

Pray,  without  ceasing  pray. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 


17.  In  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  strong 
confidence:  and  his  children 
shall  have  a  place  of  refuge. 

Prov.  xiv.  26. 

Indisputably,  the  firm  believers  in  the  gospel  have 
a  great  advantage  over  all  others,  for  this  simple 
reason : — that  if  true,  they  will  have  their  reward 
hereafter;  and  if  there  be  no  hereafter,  they  can 
be  but  with  the  infidel  in  his  eternal  sleep,  having 
had  the  assistance  of  an  exalted  hope  through  life, 
without  subsequent  disappointment. 

Father,  perfect  my  trust ; 

Strengthen  the  might  of  my  faith ; 
Let  me  feel  as  I  would  when  I  stand 

On  the  rock  of  the  shore  of  death. 


18.  So  shall  we  ever  be  with  the 

Lord.  1  Then,  iv.  17. 


176  SEPTEMBER. 


God  shall  be  eternally  there,  and  thou  shalt  be 
eternally  there ;  he  will  be  eternally  glancing  and 
smiling  on  thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  eternally  warming 
and  cheering  thyself  in  that  sunshine. 

HOPKINS. 
Knowing  as  I  am  known, 

How  shall  I  love  that  word, 
And  oft  repeat,  before  the  throne, 
"  Forever  with  the  Lord !" 

MONTGOMERY. 


19.  Out  of  the   abundance  of  the 
heart  the  mouth  speaketh. 

Matt.  xii.  34. 

The  secret  or  mystery  of  God's  mercy  through 
Christ  is  too  great  to  be  confined  within  our  own 
bosom :  we  should  in  vain  strive  to  hide  it :  it  would 
force  its  way  to  our  lips,  because  it  is  always  in  our 
hearts.  It  is  the  most  natural  subject  on  which  our 
tongues  can  be  employed :  we  believe,  and  we  can- 
not help  speaking  of  it.  ARNOLD. 

We'll  talk  of  all  he  did  and  said 
And  suffer'd  for  us  here  below, — 

The  path  he  mark'd  for  us  to  tread, 
And  what  he's  doing  for  us  now. 

NEWTON. 


SEPTEMBER.  177 


20.  Mine  eyes  prevent  the  night- 
watches,  that  I  might  medi- 
tate in  thy  word. 

Psalm  cxix.  148. 

In  a  starry  night,  if  you  cast  your  eyes  upon 
many  spaces  of  the  heavens,  at  the  first  glance 
perhaps  you  shall  discover  no  stars  there;  yet,  if 
you  continue  to  look  earnestly  and  fixedly,  some 
will  emerge  to  your  view  that  were  before  hidden 
and  concealed.  So  is  it  with  the  Holy  Scriptures : 
if  we  only  glance  curiously  upon  them,  no  wonder 
we  discover  no  more  stars,  no  more  glorious  truths 
beaming  out  their  light  to  our  understanding. 

HOPKINS. 

What  glory  gilds  the  sacred  page ! 

Majestic  like  the  sun, 
It  gives  a  light  to  every  age ; 

It  gives,  but  borrows  none. 

COWPEE. 


21.  And  without  controversy  great 
is  the  mystery  of  godliness. 

1  Tim.  iii.  16. 

A  religion  without  its  mysteries  is  like  a  temple 
without  its  God.  ROBERT  HALL. 

M 


178  SEPTEMBER. 


'Tis  mystery  all : — the  Immortal  dies ! 

Who  can  explore  his  strange  design? 
In  vain  the  first-born  seraph  tries 

To  sound  the  depths  of  love  divine : 
'Tis  mercy  all !  let  earth  adore ; 
Let  angel  minds  inquire  no  more. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 

22.  For   thy  mercy  is  great  above 

the  heavens:  and  thy  truth 
reacheth  unto  the  clouds. 

Psalm  cviii.  4. 

Our  prayers  and  God's  mercy  are  like  two  buckets 
in  a  well;  while  the  one  ascends,  the  other  descends: 
so  while  our  prayers  ascend  to  God  in  heaven,  his 
mercies  and  blessings  descend  down  upon  us. 

For  his  truth  and  mercy  stand, 

Past  and  present  and  to  be, 
Like  the  years  of  his  right  hand, 

Like  his  own  eternity. 

MONTGOMEET. 

23.  All  flesh  is  grass,  and  all  the  good- 

liness  thereof  is  as  the  flower 
of  the  field.  The  grass  wither- 
eth,  the  flower  fadeth. 

Isa.  xl.  6,  7. 


SEPTEMBER.  179 


How  sad,  yet  how  expressive,  is  the  scriptural 
phrase  for  indicating  death  !  "  He  shall  return  to  his 
house  no  more."  And  this  is  what  all  our  houses  are 
coming  to  :  our  buying,  our  planting,  our  building, 
our  marrying  and  giving  in  marriage,  our  genial 
firesides  and  joyous  children,  are  all  like  so  many 
figures  passing  through  the  magic-lantern,  to  be  put 
out  at  last  in  death. 

Ah,  Rose,  that  dost  sweet  odours  give, 

Whose  bloom  is  fair  to  see, 
How  short  a  life  hast  thou  to  live ! 

But  mine  more  brief  may  be. 

Death  may  make  me  at  once  his  prey, 

Ere  time  shall  farther  fly  : 
Thou,  Rose,  wilt  fade  within  a  day, 

I  may  this  moment  die. 

DE  LA  CHASSAGNE. 


24.  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of 
Israel  from  everlasting  to  e\7er- 
lasting:  and  let  all  the  people 
say,  Amen.  Psalm  cvi.  48. 

Amen  is  a  wing  to  our  prayers ;  it  is  the  bow  that 
shoots  them  up  to  heaven. 


180  SEPTEMBER. 


And  dear  to  me  the  loud  Amen 

Which  echoes  through  the  blest  abode, 

Which  swells,  and  sinks,  and  swells  again, 
Dies  on  the  walls,  but  lives  to  God. 

CUNNINGHAM. 


25.  In  the  way  of  righteousness  is 
life;  and  in  the  pathway 
thereof  there  is  no  death. 

Prov.  xii.  28. 

A  conviction  that  I  have, — that,  when  we  appear 
to  die,  we  only  change  one  life  for  another. 


Who  knows  if  that  call'd  death  be  not  our  life, 
And  this  our  life  be  death  ? 

EURIPIDES. 


26.  Knowing,  brethren  beloved,  your 
election  of  God.      i  Thess.  i.  4. 

Labour  for  an  assured  hope  of  glory.  This  will 
make  thy  passage  into  eternity  lightsome  and  joyful. 
When  thou  and  all  things  in  the  world  must  take 
leave  and.  part  forever,  then  to  have  the  sense  of 
the  love  of  God  and  our  interest  in  Christ  and  our 
title  to  eternal  life  will  sweetly  bear  up  our  hearts 


SEPTEMBER.  181 


in  a  dying  hour.  These  are  things  which  are  as 
immortal  as  thy  soul  is,  and  will  enter  heaven  with 
thee  and  abide  with  thee  to  all  eternity. 

Espoused  Lord  of  the  pure  saints  in  glory, 
To  whom  all  faithful  souls  affianced  are, 

Breathe  down  thy  peace  into  our  restless  spirits, 
And  make  a  lasting  heavenly  vision  there. 

So  the  bright  gates  no  more  on  us  shall  close ; 

No  more  the  cloud  of  angels  fade  away, 
And  we  shall  walk  amid  life's  weary  strife 

In  the  calm  light  of  thine  eternal  day. 


27.  Those  that  seek  me  early  shall 
find  me.  Prov.  viu.  17. 


Happy  are  they  who  rise  early  in  the  morning  of 
their  youth  ;  for  the  day  of  life  is  very  short  and 
the  art  of  Christianity  long  and  difficult. 

LEIQHTON. 

By  cool  Siloam's  shady  rill 

How  sweet  the  lily  grows  ! 
How  sweet  the  breath,  beneath  the  hill, 

Of  Sharon's  dewy  rose  ! 

Lo  !  such  the  child  whose  early  feet 

The  paths  of  peace  have  trod,  — 
Whose  secret  heart,  with  influence  sweet, 
Is  upward  drawn  to  God. 

HEBKR. 
16 


182  SEPTEMBER. 


28.  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear 
heard,  neither  have  entered 
into  the  heart  of  man,  the 
things  which  God  hath  pre- 
pared for  them  that  love  him, 
but  God  hath  revealed  them 
unto  us  by  his  Spirit. 

1  Cor.  ii.  9,  10. 

If  earth,  that  is  provided  for  mortality  and  is  pos- 
sessed by  the  Maker's  enemies,  have  so  much  plea- 
sure in  it  that  worldlings  think  it  worth  the  account 
of  their  heaven, — what  must  heaven  needs  be,  that 
is  provided  for  God  himself  and  his  friends !  How 
can  it  be  less  in  worth  than  God  is  above  his  crea- 
tures and  God's  friends  better  than  his  enemies  ?  I 
will  not  only  be  content,  but  desirous,  to  be  dis- 
solved. HALL. 

He  keeps  his  own  secure ; 

He  guards  them  by  his  side, — 
Arrays  in  garments  white  and  pure 

His  spotless  bride ; 
"With  groves  of  living  joys, 

With  streams  of  sacred  bliss, 
With  all  the  fruits  of  Paradise, 

He  still  supplies. 


SEPTEMBER.  183 

29.  I  am  the  good  Shepherd. 

John  x.  14. 

Still  that  tender  eye  of  watchfulness  following  the 
guilty  wanderers, — the  glories  of  heaven  and  the 
songs  of  angels  unable  to  dim  or  alter  his  affection, 
— the  music  of  the  words  at  this  moment  coming  as 
sweetly  from  his  lips  as  when  first  he  uttered  them, 
— "  I  know  my  sheep." 

Thou  Shepherd  of  Israel  and  mine, 
The  joy  and  desire  of  my  heart, 
For  closer  communion  I  pine: 

I  long  to  reside  where  thou  art. 
'Tis  there,  with  the  lambs  of  thy  flock, 

There  only,  I  covet  to  rest, — 
To  lie  at  the  foot  of  the  rock, 
Or  rise  to  be  hid  in  thy  breast. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 

30.  And  I  will  very  gladly  spend 

and  be  spent  for  you. 

2  Cor.  xii.  15. 

If  the  sculptor  spends  years  in  toil  to  shape  hard 
marble  into  grace,  and  then  dies  contented,  what 
should  not  a  man  be  willing  to  bear  and  do  when  it 
is  a  deathless  spirit  he  forms  to  immortal  loveliness ! 

They  watch  for  souls,  for  which  the  Lord 

Did  heavenly  bliss  forego,. — 
For  souls,  which  must  forever  live 

In  raptures  or  in  woe.  DODDBIDGE. 


OCTOBER. 


1.  THIS  one  thing  I  do.    PMI.  iii.  13. 

Every  man  might  be  more  useful  and  happy  than 
he  is,  if  he  would  be  contented  to  be  about  one 
thing.  ADAM. 

Whate'er  pursuits  my  time  employ, 
One  thought  shall  fill  my  soul  with  joy : 
That  silent,  secret  thought  shall  be 
That  all  my  thoughts  are  fix'd  on  thee. 

OBERLIN. 


2.  I  hid  my  face  from  thee  for  a 
moment;  but  with  everlasting 
kindness  will  I  have  mercy  on 
thee,  saith  the  Lord  thy  Re- 
deemer. Isaiah  liv.  8. 

So  much  as  moments  are  exceeded  by  eternity, 
and  the  sighing  of  a  man  by  the  joys  of  an  angel, 
and  a  salutary  frown  by  the  light  of  God's  counte- 
nance, a  few  groans   by  the   infinite  and  eternal 
184 


OCTOBER.  185 


hallelujahs, — so  much  are  the  sorrows  of  the  godly 
to  be  undervalued  in  respect  of  what  is  deposited 
for  them  in  the  treasures  of  eternity.  Their  sorrows 
can  die;  but  so  cannot  their  joys. 

JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

Thy  sky  is  overcast ; 
Yet  stars  shall  rise  at  last, 
Brighter  for  darkness  past, 
And  angels'  silver  voices  stir  the  air. 


3.  The  unfeigned  faith  that  is  in 
thee,  which  dwelt  first  in  thy 
grandmother  Lois,  and  thy 
mother  Eunice.  2  Km.  i.  5. 

How  often  in  old  age  have  I  valued  those  divine 
passages  of  experimental  divinity  that  I  heard  from 
the  lips  of  a  mother !  HALL. 

Blest  mother !  who  in  wisdom's  path, 

By  her  own  parent  trod, 
Thus  taught  her  son  to  flee  the  wrath 

And  know  the  fear  of  (Jod : 
Ah !  youth,  like  him  enjoy  your  prime ; 
Begin  eternity  in  time, 

Taught  by  that  mother's  love. 

MONTGOMERY. 
16* 


186  OCTOBER. 

4.  There  is  ...  another  glory  of  the 
stars;  for  one  star  diflereth 
from  another  star  in  glory. 
So  also  is  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead.  i  GOT.  xv.  41, 42. 

Mrs.  East,  with  "  a  look  of  dazzling  and  indescri- 
bable lustre,"  said,  at  midnight,  "  He  made  the  stars 
also,"  sank  into  sleep,  and  never  awoke  again ! 

BURGESS. 

Our  Christ  hath  reach' d  his  heayenly  seat, 
Through  sorrows  and  through  scars ; 

The  golden  lamps  are  at  his  feet, 
And  in  his  hand  the  stars. 


5.  Tour  heart  shall  live  that  seek 

God.  Psalm  Ixix.  32. 

All  our  life  is  a  search  :  we  are  a  race  of  seekers. 
With  some  of  us  the  aim  is  consciously  taken,  is 
dear,  is  fixed,  and  embraces  in  one  the  perfecting 
of  character  and  the  glory  of  God.  These — call 
them  by  whatever  name,  of  whatever  sect,  of  what- 
ever nation  or  rank — are  the  men  that  God  loves  and 
honours.  They  are  the  saints,  modern  or  ancient, 


OCTOBER.  187 


— as  good,  if  they  walk  our  streets  to-day,  as  if  they 
held  sweet  counsel  with  F6ne"lon  in  Cambray,  or 
knelt  with  St.  Cecilia,  or  wept  with  Paul  on  the 
shores  of  Melitus. 

That  path  wilh  humble  speed  I'll  seek 
In  which  my  Saviour's  footsteps  shine, 

Nor  will  I  hear,  nor  will  I  speak, 
Of  any  other  love  but  thine. 

JOHN  WESLEY. 


6.  Rejoice,  0  young  man,  in  thy 
youth ;  and  let  thy  heart  cheer 
thee  in  the  days  of  thy  youth, 
and  walk  in  the  ways  of  thine 
heart,  and  in  the  sight  of  thine 
eyes:  but  know  thou  that  for 
all  these  things  God  will 
bring  thee  into  judgment. 

Eccles.  xi.  9. 

Youth  is  a  dream  of  gladness  which  comes  but  to 
vanish :  it  is  sweet  as  a  smile  that  perishes :  it  is 
bright  and  rapid  as  the  arrows  of  God  when  he 
shooteth  his  lightning  in  the  heavens. 


188  OCTOBER. 


0  Father,  guide 

The  youthful  traveller  in  the  dangerous  hour ; 
Save  him  from  evil  and  temptation's  power, 
And  keep  him  near  thy  side. 


7.  And  they  sung  a  new  song,  say- 
ing, Thou  art  worthy  to  take 
the  book,  and  to  open  the 
seals  thereof:  for  thou  wast 
slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  to 
God  by  thy  blood  out  of  every 
kindred  and  tongue  and  people 
and  nation.  Rev.  v.  9. 

This  very  humiliation  will  give  to  our  happiness 
in  heaven  a  tone  that  will  elevate  us  above  the 
highest  archangel  there.  The  angels  can  sing  the 
air,  but  cannot  from  their  own  experience  send 
forth  the  deep  notes  which  will  soften  and  enlarge 
and  complete  our  songs.  In  fact,  they  can  only  add 
an  Amen  to  the  song  which  we  sing.  SIMEON. 

Sing  we  the  song  of  those  who  stand 

Before  the  eternal  throne, 
Of  every  kindred,  clime  and  land, 

A  multitude  unknown. 

MONTGOMERY. 


OCTOBER.  189 


8.  But  now  being  made  free  from 
sin,  and  become  servants  to 
God,  ye  have  your  fruit  unto 
holiness,  and  the  end  ever- 
lasting life.  Romans  vi.  22. 

Christ  comes  with  a  blessing  in  each  hand, — for- 
giveness in  one  and  holiness  in  the  other;  and 
never  gives  either  to  any  one  who  will  not  take 
both. 

Fully  in  my  life  express 
All  the  heights  of  holiness ; 
Sweetly  let  my  spirit  prove 
All  the  depths  of  humble  love. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 


9.  Mine  hand  also  hath  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  earth,  and 
my  right  hajid  hath  spanned 
the  heavens:  when  I  call  unto 
them,  they  stand  up  together. 

Isaiah  xlviii.  13. 

He  that  created  something  out  of  nothing  surely 
can    raise   great   things   out   of   small,    and    bring 


190  0  C  T  0  B  E  K. 


all  the  scattered  and  disordered  passages  of  affairs 
into  a  great,  beautiful  and  exact  frame.      SOUTH. 

With  glory  clad,  with  strength  array'd, 
The  Lord  that  o'er  all  nature  reigns 

The  world's  foundations  strongly  laid, 
And  the  vast  fabric  still  sustains. 

TATE  AND  BRADY. 


10.  Let  your  loins  be  girded  about. 

Luke  xii.  35. 

Let  us,  then,  remember  our  way,  and  where  Ve 
are,  and  keep  our  garments  girt  up;  for  we  walk  amid 
thorns  and  briers,  which,  if  we  let  them  down,  will 
entangle  and  stop  us  and  possibly  tear  our  gar- 
ments. LEIGHTON. 

May  our  light  be  always  burning 
And  our  loins  be  girded  round, 

Waiting  for  our  Lord's  returning, 
Longing  for  the  welcome  sound. 

FORD. 


11.  Cast  not  away  therefore  yonr 
confidence,  which  hath  great 
recompense  of  reward. 

ffeb.  x.  35. 


OCTOBER.  191 


In  the  contemplation  of  eternity,  that  which  is 
broken  is  bound  up,  that  which  is  lost  is  restored, 
that  which  is  quenched  is  lighted  again  j  the 
parent  looks  for  his  lost  child  across  the  great  gulf; 
the  soul,  filled  with  holy  wishes,  lifts  itself  up  to  the 
Great  Author  of  our  being,  who  has  sanctified  and 
redeemed  us  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  who  has  given 
cheerfulness  and  dignity  to  our  existence  and  made 
the  short  agonies  of  death  a  sure  prelude  to  im- 
mortal life. 

And  he  will  come  in  his  own  time  and  power, 
To  set  his  earnest-hearted  children  free : 

Watch  only  through  this  dark  and  painful  hour, 
And  the  bright  morning  yet  shall  break  for  thee. 


12.  Having  a  desire  to  depart,  and 
to  be  with  Christ;  which  is  far 
better.  Phil.  \.  23. 

How  joyful  should  death  be  to  a  saint,  that  comes 
like  the  dove  in  the  evening,  to  assure  him  the 
deluge  of  misery  is  ceased  and  the  time  is  come  of 
his  enlargement  from  the  body,  his  deliverance  from 
the  wretched  sinful  society  here,  and  his  possessing 
the  divine  world !  BATES. 


192  OCTOBER. 


'Tis  good  at  thy  word  to  be  here  ; 

"Pis  better  in  thee  to  be  gone 
And  see  thee  in  glory  appear, 

And  rise  to  a  share  in  thy  throne. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 


13.  The  effectual  fervent  prayer  of  a 

righteous  man  availeth  much. 

James  v.  16. 

Every  good  prayer  knocketh  at  heaven  for  a 
blessing;  but  an  importunate  prayer  pierceth  it, 
though  as  hard  as  brass,  and  makes  way  for  itself 
into  the  ears  of  the  Almighty.  And  as  it  ascends 
lightly  up,  carried  with  the  wings  of  faith,  so  it 
comes  ever  laden  down  again  upon  our  heads. 

HALL. 

Prayer  makes  the  darken'd  cloud  withdraw ; 
Prayer  climbs  the  ladder  Jacob  saw, 
Gives  exercise  to  faith  and  love, 
Brings  every  blessing  from  above. 

COWPER. 

14.  I  will  run  the  way  of  thy  com- 

mandments, when  thou  shalt 
enlarge  my  heart. 

Psalm  cxix.  32. 


OCTOBER.  193 


All  love  of  other  things  doth  pinch  and  contract 
the  heart ;  for  they  are  all  narrower  than  itself.  It 
is  framed  to  that  wideness  in  its  first  creation, 
capable  of  enjoying  God,  though  not  of  a  full  com- 
prehending of  him.  Therefore  all  other  things 
gather  it  in  and  straiten  it  from  its  natural  size ; 
only  the  love  of  God  stretches  and  dilates  it. 

LEIGHTON. 

Patient  th'  appointed  race  to  run, 
This  weary  world  we  cast  behind ; 

From  strength  to  strength  we  travel  on, 
The  new  Jerusalem  to  find. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 


15.  Be  not  afraid,  only  believe. 

Mark  v.  36. 

In  the  dark  river  a  sustaining  arm  will  be  under- 
neath you,  deeper  than  the  deepest  and  darkest 
wave.  Ere  you  know  it,  the  darkness  will  be  past, 
the  true  light  shining,  the  whisper  of  faith  in  the 
nether  valley,  "  Believe  !  Believe  !"  exchanged  for 
angel-voices,  exclaiming,  as  you  enter  the  portals  of 
glory,  "  No  longer  through  a  glass  darkly,  but  now 
face  to  face !" 

Prisoners  of  hope,  be  strong,  be  bold ; 

Cast  off  jour  doubts,  disdain  to  fear ; 
N  17 


194  OCTOBER. 


Dare  to  believe ;  on  Christ  lay  hold ; 

Wrestle  with  Christ  in  mighty  prayer ; 
Tell  him,  We  will  not  let  thee  go 
Till  we  thy  name,  thy  nature,  know. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 


16.  He  that  soweth  to  the  Spirit 
shall  of  the  Spirit  reap  life 
everlasting.  Gal.  vi.  8. 

Good  deeds  are  very  fruitful.  Out  of  one  good 
action  of  ours  God  produceth  a  thousand, — the 
harvest  whereof  is  perpetual.  My  principal  care 
shall  be,  that  while  my  soul  lives  in  glory  in  heaven 
my  good  actions  may  live  upon  earth  ;  and  that  they 
might  be  put  into  the  bank  and  multiply  while  my 
body  lies  in  the  grave  and  consumeth. 

HALL. 

The  harvest-dawn  is  near, 

The  year  delays  not  long, 
And  he  who  sows  with  many  a  tear 

Shall  reap  with  many  a  song. 
Sad  to  his  toil  he  goes, 

His  seed  with  weeping  leaves ; 
But  he  shall  come  at  twilight's  close 

And  bring  his  golden  sheaves. 

BURGESS. 


OCTOBER.  195 


17.  And  ye  know  that  he  was  mani- 

fested to  take  away  our  sins. 

1  John  iii.  5. 

The  longer  thou  dost  live  without  Christ,  the 
more  grains  dost  thou  collect  to  make  the  mountain 
of  thy  sins  higher.  LUTHER. 

Our  sins  on  Christ  were  laid ; 

He  bore  the  mighty  load ; 
Our  ransom-price  he  fully  paid 

In  groans  and  tears  and  blood. 

FAWCETT. 

18.  Thou  shalt  make  them  drink 

of  the  river  of  thy  pleasures. 

Psalm  xxxvi.  8. 

A  pleasure  how  rational  and  angelical !  A  plea- 
sure made  for  the  soul,  and  the  soul  for  that, — suit- 
able to  its.  spirituality  and  equal  to  all  its  capacities. 
A  pleasure  that  a  man  may  call  as  properly  his  own 
as  his  soul  and  his  conscience, — neither  liable  to  acci- 
dent nor  exposed  to  injury.  It  is  the  foretaste  of 
heaven  and  the  earnest  of  eternity.  SOUTH. 

There  is  a  stream  whose  gentle  flow 

Supplies  the  city  of  our  God, — 
Life,  love  and  joy  still  gliding  through 

And  watering  our  divine  abode. 


196  OCTOBER. 

That  sacred  stream — thy  holy  word — 
Our  grief  allays,  our  fear  controls  ; 

Sweet  peace  thy  promises  afford 
And  give  new  strength  to  fainting  souls. 

WATTS. 

19.  And  the  Lord  said,  If  I  find  in 
Sodom  fifty  righteous  within 
the  city,  then  I  will  spare  all 
the  place  for  their  sakes. 

Gen.  xviii.  26. 

The  saints  are  usually  the  scorn  and  contempt  of 
others ;  yet  are  they,  by  that  love  the  Lord  carries 
towards  them,  the  very  arches  and  pillars  of  State, 
— yea,  of  the  world,  the  frame  whereof  is  continued 
mainly  in  regard  to  them.  LEIQHTON. 

Perhaps  the  self-approving,  haughty  world — 
That,  as  she  sweeps  him  with  her  whistling  silks, 
Scarce  deigns  to  notice  him,  or,  if  she  see, 
Deems  him  a  cipher  in  the  works  of  God — 
Receives  advantage  from  his  noiseless  hours 
Of  what  she  little  dreams.     Perhaps  she  owes 
Her  sunshine  and  her  rain,  her  blooming  spring 
And  plenteous  harvest,  to  the  prayer  he  makes 
When,  Isaac-like,  the  solitary  saint 
Walks  forth  to  meditate  at  even-tide 
And  think  on  her  who  thinks  not  for  herself. 

COWPKR. 


GOTO  BEE.  197 


20.  Charge   them  that  are  rich  in 

this  world  .  .  .  that  they  do 
good,  that  they  be  rich  in  good 
works,  ready  to  distribute, 
willing  to  communicate ;  lay- 
ing up  in  store  for  themselves 
a  good  foundation  against  the 
time  to  come. 

1  Tim.  vi.  17-19. 

Riches  are  an  excellent  instrument  in  doing  good. 
Grold  is  the  most  precious  and  extensive  metal,  and 
by  a  marvellous  art  an  ounce  may  be  beaten  out  into 
some  hundred  leaves ;  but  it  is  a  more  happy  art  by 
giving  it  to  enrich  our  souls  and  supply  the  neces- 
sities of  many  others.  BATES. 

Upon  your  bounty's  willing  wings 
Swift  let  the  great  salvation  fly  ; 

The  hungry  feed,  the  naked  clothe, 
To  pain  and  sickness  help  apply. 

RIPPON. 

21.  I  am  a  stranger  in  the  earth: 

hide  not  thy  commandments 

from  me.  Psalm  cxix.  19. 

17* 


198  OCTOBER. 


I  am  a  stranger  even  at  home :  therefore  if  the 
of  the  world  bark  at  me  I  neither  care  nor 
wonder.  HALL. 

I'm  but  a  stranger  here ; 

Heaven  is  my  home : 
Earth  is  a  desert  drear ; 

Heaven  is  my  home : 
Danger  and  sorrow  stand 
Round  me  on  every  hand ; 
Heaven  is  my  father-land, — 

Heaven  is  my  home. 

22.  What  shall  the  end  be  of  them 
that  obey  not  the  gospel  of 

God?  I  Peter  \v.  17. 

There  is  no  speaking  of  it :  a  curtain  is  drawn : 
silent  wonder  expresses  it  best, — telling  that  it  cannot 
be  expressed.  How,  then,  shall  it  be  endured  ?  It 
is  true  that  there  be  resemblances  used  in  Scripture 
giving  us  some  glance  of  it.  We  hear  of  a  burning 
lake,  a  fire  that  is  not  quenched  and  a  worm  that 
dies  not.  But  these  are  but  shadows  to  the  real 
misery  of  them  that  obey  not  the  gospel.  Oh,  to 
be  filled  with  the  wrath  of  God — the  ever-living  God 
— forever  !  What  words  or  thoughts  can  reach  it  ? 
Oh,  eternity,  eternity !  Oh  that  we  did  believe  it ! 

LEIQHTON. 


OCTOBER.  199 


Ah,  that  day !  that  day  of  weeping, 
When,  in  dust  no  longer  sleeping, 
Man  to  God  in  guilt  is  going : 
Lord,  be  then  thy  mercy  showing. 


23.  So  he  bringeth  them  unto  their 

desired  haven.      Psalm  cvii.  so. 

It  might  have  been  with  thee  the  meanings  of  an 
eternal  night-blast, — no  lull  or  pause  in  the  storm ; 
but  soon  the  darkness  will  be  past  and  the  hues  of 
mom  be  tipping  the  shores  of  glory. 

Our  Father,  we  look  up  to  thee 
As  on  toward  the  haven  we  roll, 

And  faith  in  our  Pilot  shall  be 
An  anchor  to  steady  the  soul. 

H.  F.  GOULD. 

24.  Man   is  born  unto  trouble,  as 

the  sparks  fly  upward. 

Job  v.  7. 

Every  man  hath  his  turn  of  sorrow,  whereby — 
gome  more,  some  less — all  men  are  in  their  times 
miserable.  Before  sorrow  comes  I  will  prepare  for 
it :  when  it  is  come,  I  will  welcome  it :  when  it  goes, 
I  will  take  but  half  a  farewell  of  it,  as  still  ex- 
pecting his  return.  HALL. 


200  OCTOBER. 


The  springs  have  gone  by  in  sorrow, 

The  summers  were  grieved  away, 
And  ever  we  fear'd  to-morrow 

And  ever  we  blamed  to-day. 
In  depths  which  the  searcher  sounded, 

On  hills  which  the  high  heart  clomb, 
Have  toil  and  trouble  abounded : — 

But,  friends,  we  are  going  home ! 

FRANCES  BROWN. 


25.  But  we  all,  with  open  face  be- 
holding as  in  a  glass  the  glory 
of  the  Lord,  are  changed  into 
the  same  image  from  glory  to 

glory.  2  Cor.  iii.  18. 

Let  the  image  of  your  Lord,  wherein  you  are 
renewed,  grow  clearer  and  sharper  every  month. 
Let  it  not  be  like  the  image  and  superscription  on  a 
coin, — more  indistinct  and  defaced  the  longer  it  is 
used.  Let  it  rather  become  more  plain  the  older  it 
is,  and  the  likeness  of  your  King  stand  out  more 
fully.  KYLE. 

Father  of  eternal  grace, 
Glorify  thyself  in  me ; 
Sweetly  beaming  in  my  face 
May  the  world  thine  image  see ! 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 


OCTOBER.  201 


26.  Riches  and  honour  are  with  me ; 
yea,  durable  riches  and  right- 
eousness. Prov.  viii.  18. 

He  that  is  much  in  prayer  shall  grow  rich  in 
grace.  He  shall  thrive  and  increase  most  who  is 
busiest  in  this,  which  is  our  very  traffic  with  heaven, 
and  fetches  the  most  precious  commodities  thence. 
He  who  sends  oftenest  out  these  ships  of  desire,  who 
makes  the  most  voyages  to  that  land  of  spices  and 
pearls,  shall  be  sure  to  improve  his  stock  most  and 
have  most  of  heaven  on  earth.  LEIGHTON. 

Wisdom  divine !  who  tells  the  price 
Of  wisdom's  costly  merchandise ! 
Wisdom  to  silver  we  prefer, 
And  gold  is  dross,  compared  to  her. 

CHAELBS  WESLEY. 


27.  For  I  know  that  thou  wilt  bring 
me  to  death,  and  to  the  house 
appointed  for  all  living. 

Job  xxx.  23. 

On  the  Sabbath  every  man  ought  to  think  of 
death, — not  to  think  of  death  languidly,  but  to  bring 
it  in  bold  relief  before  his  eyes ;  to  gaze  at  it  as  if 
he  were  hereafter  to  meet  it,  and  to  learn  from  that 


202  OCTOBER. 


effort  of  his  mind  the  most  difficult  and  the  most 
sublime  of  all  lessons.  This  is  the  season  in  which 
we  are  called  on  to  fling  off  the  drapery  of  the  world, 
to  forget  we  are  powerful,  to  forget  we  are  young, 
to  forget  we  are  rich,  to  pass  over  all  the  scenes  of 
life  till  we  get  at  the  last,  and  to  remember  only 
that  we  must  die  and  be  judged  by  the  Son  of  God. 

SYDNEY  SMITH. 

Oh,  ne'er  will  I  at  life  repine  : 
Enough  that  thou  hast  made  it  mine. 
When  falls  the  shadow  cold  of  death, 
I  yet  will  sing,  with  parting  breath, 
As  comes  to  me  or  shade  or  sun, 
"Father!  thy  will,  not  mine,  be  done." 

ADAMS. 


28.  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  thou  shalt  be  saved. 

Acts  xvi.  31. 

Man's  idea  is  to  amend  and  turn  over  a  new  leaf, 
and  so  work  his  way  up  to  reconciliation  and  friend- 
ship with  God  :  the  gospel  way  is  first  to  be  friends 
with  God  through  Christ,  and  then  to  work.  Man's 
idea  is  to  toil  up  the  hill  and  find  life  at  the  top: 
the  gospel  way  is  first  to  live  by  faith  in  Christ,  and 
then  to  do  his  will.  KYLE. 


OCTOBEE.  203 


Believe  on  Him  who  died  for  thee; 

And,  sure  as  he  hath  died, 
Thy  debt  is  paid,  thy  soul  is  free 

And  thou  art  justified. 


29.  Enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy 

Lord.  Matt.  xxv.  21. 

It  is  but  little  we  can  receive  here, — some  drops 
of  joy  that  enter  into  us;  but  in  heaven  we  shall 
enter  into  joy  as  vessels  put  into  a  sea  of  happiness. 

Out  of  my  lost  home,  dark  and  cold, 

I  shall  pass  to  the  city  whose  streets  are  gold, 

From  the  silence  that  falls  upon  sin  and  pain, 

To  the  deathless  joy  of  the  angels'  strain ; 

Well  shall  be  ended  that  ill  begun, — 

Out  of  the  shadow  into  the  sun. 


30.  Beloved,  let  us  love  one  another: 
for  love  is  of  God ;  and  every 
one  that  loveth  is  born  of  God, 
and  knoweth  God.  1  John  iv.  7. 

Love  is  the  great  wheel  of  the  soul,  that  sets  all 
the  rest  moving,  and  makes  it,  like  the  chariots  of 
Amminadib,  to  run  swiftly  towards  its  desired  objects. 

HOPKINS. 


204  OCTOBER. 


God  only  knows  the  love  of  God : 
Oh  that  it  now  were  shed  abroad 

In  this  poor,  stony  heart ! 
For  love  I  sigh,  for  love  I  pine : 
This  only  portion,  Lord,  be  mine, 

Be  mine  this  better  part. 


31.  For  I  reckon  that  the  sufferings 
of  this  present  time  are  not 
worthy  to  be  compared  with 
the  glory  which  shall  be  re- 
vealed in  US.  Rom.  viii.  18. 

It  is  the  high  privilege  of  every  good  man  to  go 
forth  under  this  inspiring  and  assured  conviction ; 
and  that  if  he  is  led  on  by  an  invisible  hand  through 
the  deepest  waters  and  the  hottest  fires,  it  only  be- 
tokens a  more  splendid  triumph  and  a  higher  destiny, 
and  should  admonish  him  to  lift  up  from  depths  that 
have  come  over  his  soul  a  louder  cry  unto  God,  and 
to  urge  through  the  thick  clouds  beyond  which  the 
divine  presence  dwells,  the  acclamations  of  a  braver 
faith. 

By  the  thorn-road,  and  none  other, 

Is  the  mount  of  vision  won : 
Tread  it  without  shrinking,  brother ! 

Jesus  trod  it.     Press  thou  on ! 


NOVEMBER. 


1.  GIVE  us  day  by  day  our  daily 

bread.  Luke  xi.  3. 

This  is  the  desire  of  simple,  necessary  want; 
and,  so  far  as  it  is  such,  it  is  the  universal  prayer  of 
living  nature.  It  goes  up  forever,  from  all  regions 
of  earth's  animate  existence ;  it  is  a  grand  perpetual 
supplication,  sounding  through  land,  through  ocean 
and  through  air.  What  a  mighty  conjugation  is 
that  which  calls  on  God  for  supply,  in  which  supply 
their  life  consists ! 

All  his  creatures  God  doth  feed  ; 
His  full  hand  supplies  their  need : 
Let  us  therefore  warble  forth 
His  high  magistry  and  worth. 

MILTON. 

2.  And    he    called    unto    him   the 

twelve,   and    began    to   send 
them  forth  by  two  and  two. 

Mark  vi.  7. 
18  205 


206  NOVEMBER. 


Bees  never  work  singly,  but  always  in  companies, 
that  they  may  assist  each  other.  A  useful  hint 
to  scholars  and  Christians. 

Help  us  to  help  each  other,  Lord, 

Each  other's  cross  to  bear ; 
Let  each  his  friendly  aid  afford 

And  feel  his  brother's  care. 


3.  Even  so  it  is  not  the  will  of  your 
Father  which  is  in  heaven, 
that  one  of  these  little  ones 
should  perish.  Matt,  xviii.  14. 

It  is  so  facile  a  part  of  religion  as  he  that  hath  a 
tongue  can  scarce  miss  it.  It  is  as  easy  to  say, 
"  Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven,"  as  to  see  heaven, 
which  is  always  in  our  eye.  JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

To  thee,  0  Lord,  my  tender  years 

A  trembling  duty  paid, 
"With  glimpses  of  the  mighty  God 

Delighted  and  afraid. 

From  parent's  eye  and  paths  of  men 

Thy  touch  I  ran  to  meet; 
It  swell'd  the  hymn  and  seal'd  the  prayer : 

'Twas  calm  and  strange  and  sweet ! 

C.  WESLEY. 


NOVEMBER.  207 


4.  Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door  and 
knock:  if  any  man  hear  my 
voice,  and  open  the  door,  I 
will  come  in  to  him,  and  will 
sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me. 

Rev.  iii.  20. 

Christ  never  comes  into  the  soul  unattended.  He 
brings  the  Holy  Spirit  with  him,  and  the  Spirit  hk 
train  of  gifts  and  graces.  Lay  the  foundation  in 
him,  and  leave  it  to  him  to  raise  God's  building. 

ADAM. 

Welcome,  bright  guest  of  heaven ! 
Lo,  at  the  outward  threshold  of  my  door 
I  kneel  to  thee  with  grace  unknown  before  : 

Thy  knock  my  heart  hath  riven ! 

I  know  thee  who  thou  art ! 

Spirit  of  my  ascended  Lord  and  Ring  I 
Enter,  possess,  and  rule ! — let  me  thee  bring 

Within  my  heart  of  hearts ! 


5.  And  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven, 
as  the  voice  of  many  waters, 
and  as  the  voice  of  a  great 


208  NOVEMBER. 


thunder:  and  I  heard  the  voice 
of  harpers  harping  with  their 
harps:  and  they  sung  as  it 
were  a  new  song  before  the 
throne.  Rev.  xiv.  2, 3. 

It  may  be  boldly  assumed  that  nothing  in  the 
whole  compass  of  nature  bears  so  near  a  resemblance 
as  music  to  the  celestial  mode  of  thanksgiving. 

Sounds  of  sweet  melody  fall  on  my  ear ; 
Harps  of  the  blessed,  your  voices  I  hear ! 
Rings  with  the  harmony  heaven's  high  dome ; 
Joyfully,  joyfully,  haste  to  thy  home ! 


6.  If  I  regard  iniquity  in  my  heart, 
the  Lord  will  not  hear  me. 

Psalm  Ixvi.  18. 

What  more  need  be  said  of  prayer,  than  that  it 
brings  God  into  the  heart  and  keeps  sin  out  ? 

ADAM. 

One  thing,  dear  Lord,  I  dread, — 

To  have  a  secret  spot, 
That  separates  my  soul  from  thee, 

And  yet  to  know  it  not. 

FABEB. 


NOVEMBER.  209 


7.  Strengthened  with  all  might,  ac- 

cording to  his  glorious  power, 
unto  all  patience  and  long- 
suffering  with  joyfulness. 

Col.  i.  11. 

(rod,  who  in  mercy  and  wisdom  governs  the 
world,  would  never  have  suffered  so  many  sadnesses 
and  have  sent  them  especially  to  the  most  virtuous 
and  the  wisest  men,  but  that  he  intends  they  should 
be  the  seminary  of  comfort,  the  nursery  of  virtue, 
the  exercise  of  wisdom,  the  trial  of  patience,  the 
venturing  for  a  crown  and  the  gate  of  glory. 

JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

Patience,  poor  soul !  the  Saviour's  feet  were  worn, 
The  Saviour's  heart  and  hands  were  weary  too, 

His  garments  stain'd  and  travel-worn  and  old, 
His  vision  blinded  with  a  pitying  dew. 

Love  thou  the  path  of  sorrow  that  he  trod ; 

Toil  on,  and  wait  in  patience  for  thy  rest : 
0  city  of  our  God !  we  soon  shall  see 

Thy  glorious  walls,  home  of  the  loved  and  blest ! 

8.  Delight  thyself  also  in  the  Lord; 

and  he  shall  give  thee  the  de- 
sires of  thine  heart. 

Psalm  xxxvii.  4. 
0  18* 


210  NOVEMBER. 


Heaven  is  wherever  God  is, — in  my  heart  if  I  de- 
sire it  and  delight  in  his  presence.  ADAM. 

0  Rest  of  rests !  0  Peace  serene,  eternal ! 

Thou  ever  livest,  and  thou  changest  never, 
And  in  the  secret  of  thy  presence  dwelleth 

Fulness  of  joy  forever  and  forever. 


9.  And  this  is  the  condemnation, 

that  light  is  come  into  the 
world,  and  men  loved  dark- 
ness rather  than  light,  because 
their  deeds  were  evil. 

John  iii.  19. 

There  is  light  enough  for  those  who  sincerely 
wish  to  see,  and  darkness  enough  for  those  of  an 
opposite  description.  PASCAL. 

Stay  with  us,  Lord,  and  with  thy  light 

Illume  the  soul's  abyss ; 
Scatter  the  darkness  of  our  night 

And  fill  the  world  with  bliss. 

LYEA  CATHOLICA. 

10.  Then  shall  ye  call  upon  me,  and 

ye  shall  go  and  pray  unto  me, 
and  I  will  hearken  unto  you. 

Jer.  xxix.  12. 


NOVEMBER.  211 


When  we  wait  upon  God,  we  are  still  mounting 
up  higher  ai:d  higher  as  with  eagles'  wings :  we 
walk  first  without  fainting,  and  then  run  without 
wearying;  at  last  we  fly  as  an  eagle  and  make 
haste  to  the  fuller  possession  of  our  God. 

WATTS. 

Thyself  amid  the  silence  clear, 

The  world  far  off  and  dim, 
Thy  vision  free,  the  Bright  One  near, 

Thyself  alone  with  him. 

The  silence  thronged  gloriously 

With  business  how  divine ! 
God's  glory  passing  unto  thee, 

All  heaven  becoming  thine.  GILL. 


11.  Into  thine  hand  I  commit  my 
Spirit:  thou  hast  redeemed 
me,  0  Lord  God  of  truth. 

Psalm  xxxi.  5. 

There  was  a  grand  thought  in  that  saying  of  a 
believer  of  the  primitive  stamp  : — "  I  do  not  want  to 
possess  a  faith :  I  want  a  faith  that  shall  possess  me." 
The  safest  strength  of  the  heart  is  the  feeling  of 
complete  dependence.  HUNTINGTON. 

Into  His  hands  commit  thy  trembling  spirit 
Who  gave  his  life  for  thine, 


212  NOVEMBER. 


Guilty,  fix  all  thy  trust  upon  his  merit ; 

To  him  thy  heart  resign : 
Oh,  give  him  love  for  love,  and  sweetly  fall 
Into  His  hands  who  is  thy  all. 

JOSIAH  CONDEE. 


12.  And,  beginning  to  sink,  he  cried, 
saying,  Lord,  save  rne. 

Matt.  xiv.  30. 

The  journey  through  life  is  as  Peter's  walking  on 
the  water;  and,  if  Christ  does  not  reach  out  his 
hand,  we  are  every  moment  in  danger  of  sinking. 

ADAM. 

Thy  way  is  in  the  deep,  0  Lord ! 

E'en  there  we'll  go  with  thee : 
We'll  meet  the  tempest  at  thy  word 

And  walk  upon  the  sea ! 

A  moment  may  his  hand  be  lost, — 

Dear  moment  of  delay ! 
We  cry,  "  Lord,  help  the  tempest-tost," 

And  safe  we're  borne  away. 


13.  Boast  not  thyself  of  to-morrow ; 
for  thou  knowest  not  what  a 
day  may  bring  forth. 

Prov.  xxvii.  1. 


NOVEMBER.  213 


This  day  is  mine  and  your'sj  but  ye  know  not 
what  shall  be  on  the  morrow;  and  every  morning 
creeps  out  of  a  dark  cloud,  leaving  behind  it  an 
ignorance  and  silence  deep  as  midnight. 

JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

To-morrow,  Lord,  is  thine, 

Lodged  in  thy  sovereign  hand ; 
And  if  its  sun  arise  and  shine, 

It  shines  by  thy  command. 
The  present  moment  flies, 

And  bears  our  life  away : 
Oh,  make  thy  servants  truly  wise, 

That  they  may  live  to-day. 


14.  And  both  Jesus  was  called,  and 
his  disciples,  to  the  marriage. 

John  ii.  2. 

We  need  not  wonder  to  find  the  Lord'of  life  at 
that  festival  j  for  he  came  to  sanctify  all  life, — its 
times  of  joy  as  its  times  of  sorrow ;  and  all  expe- 
rience tells  us  that  it  is  times  of  gladness  which 
especially  need  such  a  sanctifying  power,  such  a 
presence  of  the  Lord.  FRENCH. 

Come,  visit  us  I  and  when  dull  work 

Grows  weary,  line  on  line, 
Revive  our  souls,  and  let  us  see 

Life's  water  turn'd  to  wine. 


214  NOVEMBEK. 


Gay  mirth  shall  deepen  into  joy, 
Earth's  hopes  grow  half  divine, 

When  Jesus  visits  us,  to  make 
Life's  water  glow  as  wine. 

The  social  talk,  the  evening  fire, 
The  homely  household  shrine, 

Grow  bright  with  angel-visits  when 
The  Lord  pours  out  the  wine. 


15.  Then  shall  thy  light  break  forth 

as  the  morning.     Isaiah  MIL  8. 

Light  breaks  in  !    Light  breaks  in  !    Hallelujah  ! 
Last  words  O/BLUMHARDT  of  Basle. 

Christian,  see !  the  orient  morning 
Breaks  along  the  heathen  sky  : 

Lo !  the  expected  day  is  dawning, — 
Glorious  day-spring  from  on  high. 

Hallelujah ! 
Hail  the  day-spring  from  on  high ! 

16.  And  this  is  the  confidence  that 

we  have  in  him,  that,  if  we  ask 
any  thing  according  to  his  will, 
he  heareth  us.  1  John  v.  14. 

In  a  full  prayer  for  full  deliverance  there  is  hope. 

ADAM. 


NOVEMBER.  215 


Oh,  move  us — thou  hast  power  to  move — 

One  in  the  One  Beloved  to  be ; 
Teach  us  the  heights  and  depths  of  love ; 

Give  thine, — that  we  may  love  like  thee. 

E.  B.  BROWNING. 


17.  Comfort  the  feeble-minded,  sup- 
port the  weak,  be  patient  to- 
ward all  men.  i  Tkess.  \.  u. 

Silently,  affliction  is  in  the  shadows  of  life ;  with- 
out noise  is  death  pacing  the  chambers  of  the  merry 
world ;  without  any  visible  consternation,  humanity 
is  swept  from  the  surface  of  the  earth.  Why  should 
we  then  wrangle?  Why  should  not  our  solemn 
duties  and  our  hastening  end  render  us  so  united 
that  personal  contention  would  be  impossible  in  a 
general  sympathy  quickened  by  the  breath  of  for- 
bearing and  pitying  charity  ?  GILES. 

Patiently  enduring,  ever 

Let  thy  spirit  be 
Bound,  by  links  that  cannot  sever, 

To  humanity. 
Fear  not,  shrink  not,  though  the  burden 

Heavy  to  thee  prove : 
God  shall  fill  thy  mouth  with  gladness 

And  thy  heart  with  love. 

BAILEY. 


216  NOVEMBER. 


18.  My  son,  forget  not  my  law Let 

not  mercy  and  truth  forsake 
thee:  bind  them  about  thy 
neck;  write  them  upon  the 
table  of  thine  heart. 

Prov.  iii.  1,  3. 

Children  should  be  inured  as  early  as  possible 
to  acts  of  charity  and  mercy.  Constantino,  as  soon 
as  his  son  could  write,  employed  his  hand  in  signing 
pardons,  and  delighted  in  conveying  through  his 
mouth  all  the  favours  that  he  granted.  HORNE, 

Scorn  not  the  slightest  word  or  deed, 

Nor  deem  it  void  of  power : 
There's  fruit  in  each  wind-wafted  seed 

That  waits  its  natal  hour. 

A  whisper'd  word  may  touch  the  heart 
'    And  call  it  back  to  life, 
A  look  of  love  bid  sin  depart 
And  still  unholy  strife. 


19.  Wheresoever  this  gospel  shall 
be  preached  in  the  whole 
world,  there  shall  also  this, 


NOVEMBER.  217 


that  this  woman  hath  done, 
be  told  for  a  memorial  of  her. 

Matt.  xxvi.  13. 

Great  was  her  faith  and  love ;  and  Christ  would 
have  the  memory  of  the  action  preserved  for  our 
sakes  and  to  show  how  well  pleased  he  is  with  the 
open  expression  of  our  love  to  him.  Thou  wilt  not 
grudge  to  be  at  some  cost  for  him,  if  thou  hast 
ability.  Thy  heart  may  be  this  box  of  precious 
ointment,  if  thou  hast  no  more.  ADAM. 

She  loved  her  Saviour,  and  to  him 

Her  costliest  present  brought : 
To  crown  his  head,  or  grace  his  name, 

No  gift  too  rare  she  thought. 
So  let  the  Saviour  be  adored, 

And  not  the  poor  despised, 
Give  to  the  hungry  from  your  hoard, 

But  all, — give  all,  to  Christ. 

20.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you, 
Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  the 
Father  in  my  name,  he  will 

give  it  yOU.  John  xvi.  23. 

If  our  prayers  be  made  in  this  name,  God  opens 
the  windows  of  heaven  and  rains  down  benediction. 

JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

19 


218  NOVEMBER. 


How  high  thou  art !    Our  songs  can  own 
No  music  thou  couldst  stoop  to  hear ; 

But  still  the  Son's  expiring  groan 
Is  vocal  in  the  Father's  ear. 

Mas.  BROWNING. 

21.  The  desire  of  our  soul  is  to  thy 
name,  and  to  the  remembrance 

Of  thee.  Isaiah  xxvi.  8. 

One  glance  of  God,  a  touch  of  his  love,  will  free 
and  enlarge  the  heart,  so  that  it  can  deny  all,  and 
part  with  all,  and  make  an  entire  renouncing  of  all, 
to  follow  him.  LEIGHTON. 

Let  every  step,  let  every  thought, 
Sweet  memories  bear  of  thee  ! 

And  hear  the  soul  thy  love  hath  bought, — 
Whose  every  cry  shall  be, 
" Nearer  to  thee!"  " Nearer  to  thee !" 


22.  And  many  bodies  of  the  saints 
which  slept  arose,  and  came  out 
of  the  graves  after  his  resur- 
rection, and  went  into  the 
holy  city,  and  appeared  unto 
many.  Matt,  xxvii.  52, 53. 


NOVEMBEK.  219 


It  is  recorded,  to  confirm  our  hopes,  how  early  his 
power  was  displayed  in  forcing  the  grave  to  release 
its  chained  captives.  What  better  earnest  can  we 
have  that  the  strength  of  death  is  broken  ?  From 
what  he  has  done,  to  what  he  is  able  to  do,  the  con- 
sequence is  clear.  BATES. 

Then  they  who  live  shall  changed  be, 

And  they  who  sleep  shall  wake, 
The  graves  shall  yield  their  ancient  charge, 

While  earth's  foundations  shake. 


23.  We  are  made  a  spectacle  unto 
the  world,  and  to  angels,  and 
to  men.  1  Cor.  i\.  9. 

I  can  do  nothing  without  a  million  of  witnesses  : 
the  conscience  is  as  a  thousand  witnesses;  and  God 
is  as  a  thousand  consciences:  I  will  therefore  so 
deal  with  men  as  knowing  that  God  sees  me,  and 
so  with  God  as  if  the  world  saw  me;  so  with  my- 
self and  both  of  them  as  knowing  that  my  conscience 
seeth  me;  and  so  with  them  all  as  knowing  that  I 
am  overlooked  by  my  accuser,  by  my  judge. 

HALL. 

Beneath  the  star-lit  arch, 

Along  the  hallow'd  ground, 
I  see  cherubic  armies  march, 

A  camp  of  fire  around. 


220  NOVEMBER. 


All  that  I  am,  have  been, 

All  that  I  yet  may  be, 
He  sees  as  he  hath  ever  seen 

And  shall  forever  see. 

MONTGOMERY. 

24.  Ask  for  the  old  paths,  where  is 
the  good  way,  and  walk  there- 
in, and  ye  shall  find  rest  for 

SOUls.  Jer.  vi.  16. 


It  is  an  old  path.  It  is  a  path  worn  by  the  feet 
of  many  pilgrims,  and  a  path  in  which  the  footsteps 
are  all  one  way.  The  treasury  of  Christ's  mercies 
has  never  been  found  empty.  The  well  of  living 
waters  has  never  proved  dry.  RYLE. 

This  pilgrim-path  by  thee  was  trod, 
Jesus  !  my  King  !  by  thee  ! 

Traced  by  thy  feet,  thy  tears,  thy  blood, 
In  love,  in  death,  for  me  !  — 
Oh,  bring  my  soul  nearer  to  thee  ! 


25.  Is  not  niy  word  like  as  a  fire  ? 
saith  the  Lord;  and  like  a 
hammer  that  breaketh  the 
rock  in  pieces?  Jer.  xxiii.  29. 


NOVEMBER.  221 


Scripture  truths,  when  they  do  not  enrich  the 
memory,  yet  may  purify  the  heart.  .  .  .  Lightning, 
than  which  nothing  sooner  vanisheth  away,  yet  often 
breaks  and  melts  the  hardest  and  most  firm  bodies 
in  its  sudden  passage.  Such  is  the  irresistible  force 
of  the  word.  The  Spirit  often  darts  it  through  us. 
It  seems  but  like  a  flash  and  gone;  and  yet  it  may 
break  and  melt  down  our  hard  hearts  before  it, 
when  it  leaves  no  impression  at  all  upon  our  memo- 
ries. BISHOP  HOPKINS. 

Gome,  0  thou  all-victorious  Lord, 
Thy  power  to  us  make  known ; 

Strike  with  the  hammer  of  thy  word 
And  break  these  hearts  of  stone. 

CHARLES  WESLBT. 


26.  In  the  night  his  song  shall  be 
with  me,  and  my  prayer  unto 
the  God  of  my  life. 

Psalm  xlii.  8. 

There  are  souls  like  the  "  alabaster  vase  of  oint- 
ment, very  precious,"  which  shed  no  perfume  of  de- 
votion, because  a  great  sorrow  has  never  broken 
them.  Could  Scott  have  been  given  back  to  the 
world  again  after  the  heavy  discipline  of  life  had 
passed  over  him,  he  would  have  spoken  otherwise 
19* 


222  NOVEMBER. 


of  many  things.  What  he  vainly  struggled  to  say 
to  Lockhart  on  his  death-bed  would  have  been  a 
new  revelation  of  his  soul  to  the  world,  could  he 
have  lived  to  unfold  it  in  literature.  But  so  it  is  : 
when  we  have  learned  to  live,  life's  purpose  is 
answered,  and  we  die. 

Sweetest  by  night,  like  blessed  truths 

That  grace  the  sacred  page, 
But  freeliest  pour  their  kindliest  store 

O'er  sickness,  grief  and  age. 

Seen  most  by  ruins,  like  th«  love 

That  gave  itself  for  all, 
But  closest  clings  to  guiltiest  things, 

Like  Magdalen  or  Saul. 


27.  Until  the  day  break,  and  the 
shadows  flee  away,  I  will  get 
me  to  the  mountain  of  myrrh, 
and  to  the  hill  of  frankincense. 

Cant.  iv.  6. 

I  am  grown  exceeding  uneasy  in  writing  and 
speaking, — yea,  almost  in  thinking, — when  I  reflect 
how  cloudy  our  clearest  thoughts  are.  But  I  think 
again,  what  other  can  we  do,  till  the  day  break  and 


NOVEMBER  223 


the  shadows  flee  away  ?  As  one  that  lieth  awake  in 
the  night  must  be  thinking,  and  one  thought  that 
will  likely  oftenest  return,  when  by  all  other 
thoughts  he  finds  little  relief,  is,  When  will  it  be 
day  ?  LEIGHTON. 

So  shall  it  be  at  last,  in  that  bright  morning 
When  the  soul  waketh  and  life's  shadows  flee : 

Oh,  in  that  hour,  fairer  than  daylight  dawning, 
Shall  rise  the  glorious  thought, — I  am  with  thee ! 


28.  Now  my  days  are  swifter  than 
a  post:  they  flee  away,  they 
see  no  good.  They  are  passed 
away  as  the  swift  ships. 

Job  ix.  25,  26. 

We  are  dying,  we  are  changing,  every  hour;  and 
yet  we  live  as  if  we  were  immortal.  The  very  time 
which  it  takes  to  pen  these  lines  must  be  retrenched 
from  my  days.  We  often  write  to  one  another;  our 
letters  traverse  the  seas,  and  as  the  ship  scuds  along 
so  life  flies :  a  moment  of  it  passes  with  every  wave. 

ST.  JEROME. 

Swift  as  the  arrow  cuts  its  way 
Through  the  soft,  yielding  air, 

Or  as  the  sun's  more  subtle  ray, 
Or  lightning's  sudden  glare. 


224  NOVEMBER. 


Or  as  an  eagle  to  the  prey, 
Or  shuttle  through  the  loom, 

So  haste  our  fleeting  lives  away  ; 
So  pass  we  to  the  tomb. 


29.  [I  will]  make  them  joyful  in  my 
house  of  prayer.      Isaiah  ivi.  7. 

How  can  we  come  to  the  house  of  prayer,  and  not 
be  moved  with  the  very  glory  of  the  place  itself, 
so  to  frame  our  affections  praying  as  doth  best  beseem 
them  whose  suits  the  Almighty  doth  there  sit  to 
hear  and  his  angels  attend  to  further? 

HOOKER. 

And  dear  to  me  the  winged  hour 

Spent  in  thy  hallow'd  courts,  0  Lord, — 

To  feel  devotion's  soothing  power, 
And  catch  the  manna  of  thy  word. 

CUNNINGHAM. 


30.  The  night  is  far  spent,  the  day 
is  at  hand:  let.  us  therefore 
cast  off  the  works  of  darkness, 
and  let  us  put  on  the  armour 

Of  light.  Rom.  xiii.  12. 


NOVEMBER.  225 


These  words  are  as  an  alarm  or  morning  watch- 
bell  of  singular  use,  not  only  awaking  a  Christian  to 
his  day's  work,  but  withal  reminding  him  what  it  is. 

LEIGHTON. 

Hark,  how  the  watchmen  cry ! 

Attend  the  trumpet's  sound ; 
Stand  to  your  arms !  the  foe  is  nigh, 

The  powers  of  hell  surround. 

C.  WESLEY. 


DECEMBER 


1.  I  AM   the  resurrection  and   the 

life :  he  that  believeth  in  me, 
though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall 
he  live,  John  xi.  25. 

What  a  voice  is  this,  breaking  over  a  world  which 
for  six  thousand  years  has  been  a  dormitory  of  sin 
and  death ! 

Morning  breaks  upon  the  tomb ; 
Jesus  scatters  all  its  gloom ; 
Day  of  triumph  through  the  skies, — 
See  the  glorious  Saviour  rise ! 

COLLYER. 

2.  And  in  this  mountain  shall  the 

Lord  of  hosts  make  unto  all 
people  a  feast  of  fat  things, 
a  feast  of  wines  on  the  lees,  of 
fat  things  full  of  marrow,  of 
wines  on  the  lees  well  refined. 

Isaiah  xxv.  6. 
226 


DECEMBER.  227 


As  those  that  have  tasted  of  some  delicate  dish 
find  other  plain  dishes  but  unpleasant,  so  it  fareth 
with  those  which  have  once  tasted  of  heavenly 
things:  they  cannot  but  contemn  the  best  worldly 
pleasures.  As,  therefore,  some  dainty  guest,  know- 
ing there  is  so  pleasant  fare  to  come,  I  will  reserve 
my  appetite  for  it,  and  not  suffer  myself  to  be  cloyed 
with  the  coarse  diet  of  the  world.  HALL. 

Eternal  Wisdom  hath  prepared 

A  soul-reviving  feast, 
And  bid  your  longing  appetites 

The  rich  provision  taste. 

WATTS. 

3.  "When  a  few  years  are  come,  then 
I  shall  go  the  way  whence  I 
shall  not  return.  Job  xvi.  22. 

The  day  of  grace  is  slipping  away;  the  day  of 
judgment  is  drawing  near;  the  thread  of  life  is 
winding  up.  A  few  more  short  years,  and  every 
soul  of  us  will  have  gone  to  his  own  place: — we 
shall  each  of  us  be  in  heaven  or  hell.  RYLE. 

My  Father's  house  on  high  ! 

Home  of  my  soul !  how  near 
At  times,  to  faith's  foreseeing  eye, 

Thy  golden  gates  appear ! 

MONTGOMERY. 


228  DECEMBER. 


4.  Those  that  walk  in  pride  he  is 
able  to  abase.          Dan.  iv.  37. 

After  all,  take  some  quiet,  sober  moment  of  life 
and  add  together  the  two  ideas  of  pride  and  of  man. 
Behold  him,  a  creature  of  a  span  high,  stalking 
through  infinite  space  in  all  the  grandeur  of  little- 
ness. Perched  on  a  little  speck  of  the  universe, 
every  wind  of  heaven  strikes  into  his  Wood  the  cold- 
ness of  death;  his  soul  fleets  from  his  body  like 
melody  from  the  string;  day  and  night,  as  dust  on 
the  wheel,  he  is  rolled  along  the  heavens,  through  a 
labyrinth  of  worlds,  and  all  the  systems  and  creations 
of  God  are  flaming  above  and  beneath. 

Lord,  forever  at  thy  side 

Let  my  place  and  portion  be : 

Strip  me  of  the  robe  of  pride  ; 
Clothe  me  with  humility. 

MONTGOMERY. 


5.  Take  heed  that  ye  do  not  your 
alms  before  men,  to  be  seen  of 
them :  otherwise  ye  have  no 
reward  of  your  Father  which 
is  in  heaven.  Matt.  vi.  i. 


DECEMBER.  229 


In  no  wise  does  religion  so  commend  herself  as 
in  the  embodied  charity  which  glides  noiselessly 
upon  her  errands  with  the  softness  of  an  angel's 
foot. 

Make  channels  for  the  streams  of  love, 

Where  they  may  broadly  run, 
And  love  has  overflowing  streams 

To  fill  them  every  one. 

For  we  must  share,  if  we  would  keep, 

That  blessing  from  above : 
Ceasing  to  give,  we  cease  to  have : 

Such  is  the  law  of  love. 

FRENCH. 


6.  What  is  a  man  profited  if  he 
shall  gain  the  whole  world 
and  lose  his  own  soul? 

Matthew  xvi.  26. 

To  lose  a  soul  which  is  designed  to  be  an  immense 
sea  of  pleasure,  even  in  its  natural  capacities,  is  to 
lose  all  that  whereby  a  man  can  possibly  be,  or  be 
supposed,  happy.  JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

Are  there  on  earth  (let  me  not  call  them  men) 
Who  lodge  a  soul  immortal  in  their  breasts, 
Unconscious  as  the  mountain  of  its  ore, 
20 


DECEMBER. 


Or  rock  of  its  inestimable  gem  ? 
When  rocks  shall  melt  and  mountains  vanish,  these 
Shall  know  their  treasure, — treasure  then  no  more. 

YOUNQ. 


7.  Though  the  Lord  be  high,  yet 
hath    he    respect    unto    the 

lowly.  Psalm  cxxxviii.  6. 

Some  flowers  and  herbs,  that  grow  very  low,  are 
of  a  very  fragrant  smell  and  healthful  use. 

LEIQHTON. 

The  bird  that  soars  on  highest  wing 
Builds  on  the  ground  her  lowly  nest ; 

And  she  that  does  most  sweetly  sing 
Sings  in  the  shade  when  all  things  rest : 

In  lark  and  nightingale  we  see 

What  honour  hath  humility. 


8.  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go?  thou 
hast  the  words  of  eternal  life. 

John  vi.  68. 

Religion  is  natural  and  necessary  to  the  heart  of 
man.  Where  else  can  that  being  seek  for  succour 
who  is  in  death  in  the  midst  of  life  ?  What  other 
hope  in  the  perils  of  land  or  water,  on  the  bed  of 


DECEMBER.  231 


sickness,  in  the  hour  of  death,  in  the  day  of  judg- 
ment? 

Ah !  what  avails  my  strife, 

My  wanderings  to  and  fro  ? 
Thou  hast  the  words  of  endless  life  : 

Ah,  whither  should  I  go  ? 

C.  WESLEY. 

9.  It  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to 

die.  Heb.  ix.  27. 

Some  walk  on  the  golden  sands,  others  in  the 
mire;  but  the  same  uncontrollable  necessity  of  dying 
involves  all.  And  whatever  the  way  be,  whether 
pleasant  or  doleful,  yet  every  one  passes  with  equal 
steps,  measured  by  the  same  invariable  spaces  of 
hours  and  days,  and  arrives  at  the  same  common 
end  of  life.  BATES. 

Into  the  silent  land ! 

Ah !  who  shall  lead  us  thither  ? 

Clouds  in  the  evening  sky  more  darkly  gather, 
And  shatter'd  wrecks  lie  thicker  on  the  strand ; 

Who  leads  us  with  a  gentle  hand, 
Whither,  oh,  whither, 

Into  the  silent  land  ? 

LONGFELLOW. 

10.  Thy  mercy,  0  Lord,  is  in  the 

heavens.  Psalm  xxxvi.  5. 


232  DECEMBER. 


Let  us  take  heed;  for  mercy  is  like  a  rainbow, 
which  God  set  in  the  clouds  to  remember  mankind : 
it  shines  here  as  long  as  it  is  not  hindered ;  but  we 
must  never  look  for  it  after  it  is  night;  and  it  shines 
not  in  the  other  world.  If  we  refuse  mercy  here, 
we  shall  have  justice  to  eternity. 

JEREMY  TAYLOR. 

Yea,  Truth  and  Justice  then 
Will  down  return  to  men, 

Orb'd  in  a  rainbow  ;  and,  like  glories  wearing, 
Mercy  will  sit  between, 
Throned  in  celestial  sheen, 

With  radiant  feet  the  tissued  clouds  down  steering; 
And  heaven,  as  at  some  festival, 
Will  open  wide  the  gates  of  her  high  palace-hall. 

MILTON. 


11.  The  tree  is  known  by  his  fruit. 

Matt.  xii.  33. 

In  prayer  the  seeds  of  action  are  sown ;  but,  let  us 
remember,  we  shall  be  judged  by  the  fruit. 


Dear  Comforter !     Eternal  Love ! 

If  thou  wilt  stay  with  me, 
Of  lowly  thoughts  and  simple  ways 

I'll  build  a  house  for  thee. 


DECEMBER.  233 


Who  made  this  beating  heart  of  mine 

But  thou,  my  heavenly  Guest  ? 
Let  no  one  have  it,  then,  but  thee, 

And  let  it  be  thy  rest. 

LYRA  CATHOLICA. 


12.  We  brought  nothing  into  this 
world,  and  it  is  certain  we 
can  carry  nothing  out. 

1  Tim.  vi.  7. 

As  it  is  with  those  that  are  invited  to  feast  in 
some  noble  family, — the  furniture  is  rich,  the  enter- 
tainment splendid  and  magnificent,  but  when  they 
depart  they  cannot,  of  all  that  pomp  and  bravery, 
carry  any  thing  away  with  them, — so  is  it  here.  The 
world  is  God's  great  house,  richly  furnished,  and  we 
well  entertained  in  it;  we  have  all  things  liberally 
afforded  us  for  our  use,  but  nothing  of  all  is  our's. 
And  therefore  God  hath  set  that  grim  porter,  Death, 
at  his  gate,  to  see  that,  as  we  brought  nothing  into 
it,  so  we  carry  nothing  out  of  it. 

HOPKINS. 

The  glories  of  our  birth  and  state 

Are  shadows, — not  substantial  things : 
There  is  no  armour  against  fate ; 
Death  lays  his  icy  hand  on  kings. 

SHIRLEY. 
20* 


234  DECEMBER. 


13.  Not  slothful  in  business;  fervent 
in  spirit;  serving  the  Lord. 

Rom.  xii.  11. 

Religion  is  intended  for  the  world.  The  world 
has  need  of  it.  Your  weary,  weary,  clanking  ma- 
chinery,— ever  going,  never  resting, — the  hard  edges 
of  that  huge,  complex,  money-making  machine  are 
sawing  into  your  very  flesh  and  bones.  If  the  name 
and  Spirit  of  Christ  were  poured  upon  your  business, 
your  business  would  not  rack  you  so  sore  nor  waste 
you  so  soon.  ARNOLD. 

Though  careful,  without  care  I  am, 

Nor  feel  my  happy  toil ; 
Preserved  in  peace  by  Jesus'  name, 

Supported  by  his  smile, 
Rejoicing  thus  my  faith  to  show, 

His  service  my  reward, 
While  every  work  I  do  below, 

I  do  it  to  the  Lord. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 


14.  Who  mind  earthly  things* 

Philippians  iii.  19. 

When  the  Duke  d'Alva  was  asked  whether  he 
observed  a  comet  that  had  lately  appeared,  "  No/' 
said  he :  "  I  have  so  much  to  do  on  earth  that  I  can- 


DECEMBER.  235 


not  spare  time  to  mind  heaven :"  so  it  is  with  many : 
they  are  overwhelmed  with  worldly  employments, 
and  have  no  spare  time  to  think  of  heaven. 

HOPKINS. 

How  vain  nre  all  things  here  below ! 

How  fal.ic,  and  yet  how  fair ! 
Each  pleasure  hath  its  poison  too, 

And  every  sweet  its  snare. 

WATTS. 


15.  Love  ye  your  enemies. 

Luke  vi.  35. 

Michael  de  Molinos  was  tried,  condemned,  and 
shut  up  in  the  dungeons  of  the  Inquisition,  where, 
after  the  expiration  of  twelve  years,  he  closed  his 
life.  But  he  uttered  no  cry,  made  no  resistance, 
poured  forth  no  denunciations.  It  is  affecting  to 
see  with  what  calmness  and  entire  faith  in  God  he 
entered  that  dungeon-door  from  which  he  knew  that 
there  was  no  return.  Taking  by  the  hand  the  friar 
who  attended  him,  and  who  was  one  of  his  opposers, 
he  merely  said,  "  Farewell.  At  the  day  of  judgment 
we  shall  see  each  other  again ;  and  then  it  will  ap- 
pear on  which  side  truth  is, — whether  on  your's, 
or  on  mine."  UPHAM. 


236  DECEMBER. 


Forgive  thy  foes ; — nor  that  alone : 
Their  evil  deeds  with  good  repay ; 

Fill  those  with  joy  who  leave  thee  none, 
And  kiss  the  hand  upraised  to  slay. 

So  does  the  fragrant  sandal  bow 
In  meek  forgiveness  to  its  doom, 

And  o'er  the  axe  at  every  blow 
Shed  in  abundance  rich  perfume. 

HERBERT  KNOWLBS. 

16.  In  the  world  ye  shall  have  tribu- 

lation :  but  be  of  good  cheer ; 
I  have  overcome  the  world. 

John  xvi.  33. 

Prosperity  is  the  blessing  of  the  Old  Testament : 
adversity  is  the  blessing  of  the  New, — which  carrieth 
the  greater  benediction  and  the  clearer  revelation 
of  God's  favour.  BACON. 

Abide  with  me !  Fast  falls  the  eventide, 
The  darkness  deepens.     Lord,  with  me  abide ! 
When  other  helpers  fail  and  comforts  flee, 
Help  of  the  helpless,  oh,  abide  with  me ! 

LYTK. 

17.  He  that  is  of  a  merrv  heart 
hath  a  continual  feast. 

Prov.  zv.  15. 


DECEMBER.  237 


All  the  trouble  that  befalls  the  children  of  God 
is  but  as  the  rattling  of  hail  upon  the  tiles  of  the 
house  to  a  man  who  is  sitting  within  a  warm  room 
at  a  rich  banquet ;  and  such  is  a  good  conscience, — 
a  feast,  yea,  a  continual  feast.  LEIGHTON. 

Thy  happy  ones  a  strain  begin : 
Dost  thou  not,  Lord,  glad  souls  possess  ? 

Thy  cheerful  Spirit  dwells  within: 
We  feel  thee  in  our  joyfulness. 

Our  mirth  is  not  afraid  of  thee ; 

Our  life  rejoices  to  be  bright ; 
We  would  not  from  our  gladness  flee, 

But  give  full  welcome  to  delight. 

J.  H.  GILL. 


18.  And  whither  I  go  ye  know,  and 
the  way  ye  know.    John  xiv.  4. 

We  are  conteat  to  endure  slight  temporary  incon- 
veniences that  we  may  secure  great  and  durable 
benefits.  We  make  toilsome  journeys  to  visit  be- 
loved relations  or  friends.  We  gladly  cross  stormy 
seas,  that  we  may  see  magnificent  or  historical 
structures,  or  renowned  cities,  or  beautiful  land- 
scapes, or  celebrated  statues  and  paintings.  Often 
shorter  and  easier  is  the  passage  to  heaven,  "  the 
city  that  hath  foundations."  OLIN. 


238  DECEMBER. 


0  happy  harbour  of  God's  saints! 

0  sweet  and  pleasant  soil ! 
In  thee  no  sorrow  can  be  found, 

Nor  grief,  nor  care,  nor  toil. 

Thy  walls  are  made  of  precious  stone, 

Thy  bulwarks  diamond-square, 
Thy  gates  are  all  of  orient  pearl : — 

Oh  God!  if  I  were  there ! 

Q0ARLB8. 


19.  I  said  of  laughter,  It  is  mad: 
and  of  mirth,  What  doeth  it  ? 

Eccles.  ii.  2. 

If  our  condition  were  really  happy,  there  would 
be  no  need  to  divert  us  from  thinking  of  it. 

PASCAL. 

Their  fancied  joys,  how  fast  they  flee ! 

Just  like  a  dream  when  man  awakes : 
Their  songs  of  softest  harmony 

Are  but  a  prelude  to  their  plagues. 

WATTS. 


20.  Can  I  bring  him  back  again?  I 
shall  go  to  him,  but  he  shall  not 
return  to  me.  2  Samuel  xii.  23. 


DECEMBER.  239 


"  There  is  healing  in  the  bitter  cup." — God  takes 
from  us  those  we  love  as  hostages  for  our  faith ;  and 
to  those  who  look  to  a  reunion  in  a  better  world, 
where  there  shall .  be  no  separation,  and  no  mu- 
tability except  that  which  results  from  perpetual 
progressiveness,  the  evening  becomes  more  delight- 
ful than  the  morning,  and  the  sunset  offers  brighter 
and  lovelier  visions  than  those  which  we  build  up  in 
the  morning  clouds  and  which  disappear  before  the 
strength  of  the  day.  SOUTHEY. 

They  who  die  in  Christ  are  blest ; 

Our's,  then,  be  no  thought  of  grieving : 
Sweetly  with  their  God  they  rest, 

All  their  toils  and  troubles  leaving. 
So  be  our's  the  faith  that  saveth, 
Hope  that  every  trial  braveth, 
Love  that  to  the  end  endureth 
And,  through  Christ,  the  crown  secureth. 


21.  When  thou  wast  young,  thou 
girdedst  thyself  and  walkedst 
whither  thou  wouldest;  but 
when  thou  shalt  be  old,  thou 
shalt  stretch  forth  thy  hands, 
and  another  shall  gird  thee, 


240  DECEMBER. 


and  carry  thee  whither  thou 

WOllldest  not.  John  xxi.  18. 

Such  is  the  history  of  the  Christian  life,  not  in 
Peter's  case  only :  but  this  is  the  very  course  and 
order  of  it  in  almost  all  of  God's  servants :  it  is 
hegun  in  action,  it  is  perfected  in  suffering.  In  the 
last,  lessons  are  learned  which  the  first  could  never 
teach.  TRENCH. 

I  hoped  that  with  the  brave  and  strong 

My  portion'd  task  might  be, — 
To  toil  amid  the  busy  throng, 

With  purpose  pure  and  high. 
But  God  has  fix'd  another  part, 

And  he  has  fix'd  it  well : 
I  said  so,  with  my  bleeding  heart, 

When  first  the  anguish  fell. 

ANNE  BRONTE 


22.  The  glory  of  Lebanon  shall  be 
given  unto  it,  the  excellency 
of  Carmel  and  Sharon;  they 
shall  see  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
and  the  excellency  of  our  God. 

Isaiah  xxxv.  2. 


DECEMBER.  241 


The  beauty  of  Carmel  is  celebrated  in  Scripture ; 
and  even  in  this  day  of  desolation  it  sustains  its 
ancient  praise.  The  enlivening  atmosphere,  the 
sides  covered  with  perpetual  verdure,  the  brow 
dark  with  woods,  and  the  wide  prospects  around, 
combine  to  form  a  scene  which  he  who  has  once  be- 
held forgets  no  more.  KITTO. 

Thou,  who  didst  lighten  Zion's  hill, 

On  Carmel  who  didst  shine, 
Our  deserts  let  thy  glory  fill, 

Thy  excellence  divine. 

Like  Lebanon,  in  towering  pride 

May  all  our  forests  smile ; 
And  may  our  borders  blossom  wide, 

Like  Sharon's  fruitful  soil. 

23.  "Which  hope  we  have  as  an 
anchor  of  the  soul,  both  sure 
and  steadfast,  and  which  en- 
tereth  into  that  within  the 

Vail.  Heb.  vi.  19. 

This  is  the  anchor  fixed  within  the  vail,  which 
keeps  the  soul  firm  against  all  the  tossings  on  these 
swelling  seas  and  the  winds  and  tempests  that 
arise  upon  them.  The  firmest  thing  in  this  inferior 
world  is  a  believing  soul.  LEIOHTON. 

Q  21 


242  DECEMBER. 


Now  I  have  found  the  ground  wherein 
Sure  my  soul's  anchor  may  remain, — 

The  wounds  of  Jesus  for  my  sin, 
Before  the  world's  foundation  slain; 

Whose  mercy  shall  unshaken  stay 

When  earth  and  heaven  are  fled  away. 

JOHN  WESLEY. 


24.  I  trust  to  see  you  in  my  journey, 
and  to  be  brought  on  my  way 
thitherward  by  you,  if  first  I 
be  somewhat  filled  with  your 
company.  Rom.  xv.  24. 

Love  is  the  law  of  that  kingdom,  and  perfectly 
obeyed  there.  Now,  how  charming  is  the  conversa- 
tion of  one  that  is  wise  and  holy,  especially  if  the 
sweetness  of  affability  be  in  his  temper!  How 
pleasantly  does  time  slide  away  in  the  company  of 
our  beloved  friends !  We  are  not  sensible  of  its 
flight.  But  what  dear  satisfaction  is  it  to  be  united 
to  that  chosen,  consecrated  society  above,  who  love 
one  another  as  themselves !  Though  the  angels 
and  saints  have  different  degrees  of  glory,  yet  every 
one  is  perfectly  happy  and  pleased.  BATES. 

May  He,  by  whose  kind  care  we  meet, 
Send  his  good  Spirit  from  above, 


DECEMBER.  243 


Make  our  communications  sweet 
And  cause  our  hearts  to  burn  with  love. 

Forgotten  be  each  worldly  theme 
When  Christians  meet  together  thus : 

We  only  wish  to  speak  of  Him 

Who  lived  and  died  and  reign' d  for  us. 

NEWTON. 


25.  Te  shall  have  a  song,  as  in  the 
night  when  a  holy  solemnity 

is  kept.  Isaiah  xxx.  29. 

How  sweetly  doth  this  music  sound  in  this  dead 
season !  In  the  day-time  it  would  not,  it  could  not, 
so  much  affect  the  ear.  All  harmonious  sounds  are 
advanced  by  a  silent  darkness.  Thus  it  is  with  the 
glad  tidings  of  salvation.  The  gospel  never  sounds 
so  sweet  as  in  the  night  of  persecution  or  of  and 
own  private  affliction.  HALL. 

When  Jordan  hush'd  his  waters  still 

And  silence  slept  on  Zion's  hill, 

When  Bethlehem's  shepherds  through  the  night 

Watch'd  o'er  their  flocks  by  starry  light, 

Hark  !  from  the  midnight  hills  around 
A  voice  of  more  than  mortal  sound 
In  distant  hallelujahs  stole, 
Wild  murmuring,  o'er  the  raptured  soul. 


244  DECEMBER. 


On  wheels  of  light,  on  wings  of  flame, 
The  glorious  hosts  of  Zion  came ; 
High  heaven  with  songs  of  triumph  rung 
While  thus  they  struck  their  harps  and  sung. 

CAMPBELL. 


26.  For  we  are  saved  by  hope. 

Rom.  viii.  24. 

Hope  is  a  beautiful  meteor ;  but  nevertheless  this 
meteor,  like  the  rainbow,  is  not  only  lovely  because 
of  its  seven  rich  and  radiant  stripes :  it  is  the 
memorial  of  a  covenant  between  man  and  his  Maker, 
telling  us  that  we  were  born  for  immortality,  des- 
tined, unless  we  sepulchre  our  greatness,  to  the 
highest  honour  and  noblest  happiness.  Hope  proves 
man  deathless.  It  is  the  struggle  of  the  soul  break- 
ing loose  from  what  is  perishable  and  attesting  her 
eternity.  MELVILLE. 

The  rainbow  passes  with  the  storm, 
And  hope  with  sorrow's  fading  form. 

MONTGOMERY. 


27.  For  we  know  that  if  our  earthly 
house  of  this  tabernacle  were 
dissolved,  we  have  a  building 


DECEMBER.  245 


of  God,  a  house  not  made 
with  hands,  eternal  in  the 
heavens.  2  Cor.  v.  i. 

Mine  is  taking  down  piece  by  piece.  By-and-by 
I  shall  find  a  chink  large  enough  to  get  out  of;  like 
a  bird  confined  in  a  cage  and  fluttering  about  to 
extricate  itself  in  vain,  till  at  last,  the  door  being 
open,  the  happy  prisoner  wings  its  flight  towards 
heaven.  M.  J.  GRAHAME. 

We  know,  by  faith  we  know, 

If  this  frail  house  of  clay, 
This  tabernacle,  sink  below 

In  ruinous  decay, 
We  have  a  house  above, 

Not  made  with  mortal  hands ; 
And  firm  as  our  Redeemer's  love 

That  heavenly  fabric  stands. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 


28.  I  will  say  of  the  Lord,  he  is  my 
refuge  and  my  fortress:  my 
God ;  in  him  will  I  trust. 

Ps.  xci.  2. 

It  is  no  news  to  you  that  I  am  a  prisoner  and 
always  kept  under  lock  and  key.     I  am  afflicted, 
21* 


DECEMBER. 


although  I  have  firm  trust  and  rest  in  God.  Oh, 
what  a  happiness  it  is  to  be  thoroughly  resigned  to 
Providence! — a  resignation  which  constitutes  the 
true  repose  of  life.  MADAME  GUYON. 

God  is  their  rock,  their  fortress  of  defence, 
In  time  of  trouble  a  defence  most  holy : 

For  them  the  wrath  of  man  is  impotence, 
His  pride  a  bubble,  and  his  wisdom  folly. 

That  peace  have  they — unspeakable,  intense — 
Which  passeth  understanding  !  Melancholy 

Life's  gauds  to  them :  the  unseen  they  explore : 

Rooted  in  heaven,  to  live  is — to  adore ! 

CHARLES  LLOYD. 


29.  It  is  good  that  a  man  should 
both  hope  and  quietly  wait 
for  the  salvation  of  the  Lord. 

Lam.  iii.  26. 

Is  it  not  good  that  I  hope  and  wait,  when  each 
moment  may  add  a  jewel  to  the  crown,  a  plume  to 
the  wing,  a  city  to  the  sceptre?  Is  it  not  good 
when  each  second  effort  may  lift  me  a  step  higher 
in  the  scale  of  triumph  and  majesty  ? 

MELVILLE. 


DECEMBER.  247 


Here,  in  thine  own  appointed  ways, 

I  wait  to  learn  thy  will ; 
Silent,  I  stand  before  thy  face, 

And  hear  thee  say,  Be  still ! 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 


30.  For  the  Lord  himself  shall  de- 
scend from  heaven  with  a 
shout,  with  the  voice  of  the 
archangel,  and  with  the  trump 
of  God :  and  the  dead  in  Christ 
shall  rise  first :  then  we  which 
are  alive  and  remain  shall  be 
caught  up  together  with  them 
in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord 
in  the  air:  and  so  shall  we 
ever  be  with  the  Lord. 

1  Thess.  iv.  16,  17. 

One  grave  shall  cleave  in  twain  and  its  buried 
tenantry  shall  rise  and  meet  the  Lord,  and  the  other 
grave,  that  looks  equally  green  beside  it,  shall  fail 
to  be  pierced  by  that  sound  or  its  dead  dust  to  be 
moved.  Nor  less  startling  will  be  the  scenes  among 
the  living :  some  families  shall  be  met  together 


248  DECEMBER. 


speaking  of  the  things  of  this  world;  in  an  instant, 
and  without  warning,  one  shall  hear  a  sound  sig- 
nificant to  his  heart  of  glory,  and  rise  as  upon  the 
lightning's  wing  and  with  its  splendour,  and  leave 
without  a  farewell  the  rest,  that  know  not  Christ 
and  remain  astonished  behind.  GUMMING. 

Great  God !  what  do  I  see  and  hear  ? 

The  end  of  things  created : 
The  Judge  of  mankind  doth  appear, 

On  clouds  of  glory  seated ; 
The  trumpet  sounds ;  the  graves  restore 
The  dead  which  they  contain'd  before. 

Prepare,  my  soul,  to  meet  him ! 

The  dead  in  Christ  shall  first  arise 

At  the  last  trumpet's  sounding, 
Caught  up  to  meet  him  in  the  skies, 

With  joy  their  Lord  surrounding : 
No  gloomy  fears  their  souls  dismay : 
His  presence  sheds  eternal  day 

On  those  prepared  to  meet  him. 

LUTHER. 


31.  Perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear 

Of  God.  2  Cor.  vii.  1. 

Holiness  presents  that  side  of  us  which  joins  on 
upon  eternity,  opens   into   heaven  and  makes  us 


DECEMBER.  249 


kindred  to  God.  It  is  not  to  be  had  without  an 
aim,  a  purpose,  a  steady  looking  and  striving  to  that 
end.  It  must  be  treated  like  an  interest,  a  pursuit, 
a  profession.  It  is  the  great  livelihood  of  your 
heart.  It  is  the  vocation  of  your  soul.  It  is  the 
practical  handicraft  of  your  inner  man.  It  must 
be  begun,  followed  and  never  ended.  Kesolve, 
deliberation,  continuous  effort,  are  its  motive  powers. 
All  your  members  are  its  flexile  instruments.  The 
Bible  is  its  text-book.  Morning,  evening,  noon,  all 
the  circling  hours,  are  its  periods  of  exercise.  Prayer 
is  its  rehearsal.  God  answering  is  its  teacher. 
Christ  is  its  pattern.  HUNTINGTON. 

This,  this  is  our  high  calling's  prize : 

Thine  image  in  thy  Son  I  claim, 
And  still  to  higher  glories  rise, 

Till,  all  transform'd,  I  know  thy  name, 
And  glide  to  all  my  heaven  above, — 
My  highest  heaven,  in  Jesus'  love. 

CHARLES  WESLEY. 


THE   END. 


•PS/WYFTJUTY 


THE  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
LOS  ANGELES 


A    001  145471     7 


BV 
4810 
N48   1 


